Military Training Management

Training is the primary effort of The U.S. Army in its day to day operations. It determines the level of readiness for our nation's military. Our training is so complex it requires a system of management to match: this is referred to in Army doctrine as Training Management. Training management is a function all Army leaders perform whenever they plan, prepare, execute, and assess training. It occurs at every echelon within the Army, from teams to corps and beyond. It requires efforts in scheduling, resourcing, coordinating, and equipping to conduct training events. However, no echelon conducts training management independently. The decisions made by a brigade commander regarding training management will impact a company commander's efforts in training management. Training management can aptly be described as a complex system of complex systems. The Army Training Management System is arguably one of the most complicated systems of the U.S. military. The approach of this thesis is to aid in defining just some of the problems and challenges associated with the training management systems, to identify causes and factors that influence these issues, and to suggest potential improvements and ways to overcome these issues. This is an issue that is regularly and routinely analyzed by many military staffs and contacted civilian organizations, and by no means will this thesis provide "THE" answer-but hopefully "establish a foothold" for further analysis that leads to tangible improvements into the system.

BUSINESS STRATEGY. "The 4 Disciplines of Execution "offers the what but also how effective execution is achieved. They share numerous examples of companies that have done just that, not once, but over and over again. This is a book that every leader should read! (Clayton Christensen, Professor, Harvard Business School, and author of "The Innovator s Dilemma)." Do you remember the last major initiative you watched die in your organization? Did it go down with a loud crash? Or was it slowly and quietly suffocated by other competing priorities? By the time it finally disappeared, it s likely no one even noticed. What happened? The whirlwind of urgent activity required to keep things running day-to-day devoured all the time and energy you needed to invest in executing your strategy for tomorrow. "The 4 Disciplines of Execution" can change all that forever.

This work is a collection of observations, insights, and advice from over 50 serving and retired Senior Non-Commissioned Officers. These experienced Army leaders have provided for the reader, outstanding mentorship on leadership skills, tasks, and responsibilities relevant to our Army today. There is much wisdom and advice "from one leader to another" in the following pages.

In conventional warfare, support forces (SF) such as military police, engineers, and medical personnel normally operate behind the front lines of a battlefield. But in Iraq and Afghanistan -- both in U.S. Central Command's (CENTCOM) area of responsibility -- there is no clear distinction between front lines and rear areas, and SF are sometimes exposed to hostile fire without help from combat arms units. This report on combat skills training for SF assessed the extent to which: (1) Army and Marine Corps SF are completing required combat skills training; (2) the services and CENTCOM have information to validate completion of required training; and (3) the services have used lessons learned to adjust combat skills training for SF. Illustrations.

NSIAD-99-173 Military Training: Management and Oversight of Joint Combined Exchange Training