TOPIC: DOCTRINE DEVELOPMENT
DISCUSSION. "We have to be involved in doctrine, we have to be involved in MTP development.... We don't want to put so much on (the O/Cs) that we forget what is first and foremost their mission -- helping a unit train in the box.... Should there be a quality control check on MTP development with O/Cs? Yes, I think so."
"So if we are talking about trying to reshape our Army, remodernize our Army, redesign our Army, use new equipment, new information management systems, just believe they have to be tested in the CTC environment."
"I absolutely feel that (O/Cs) should assist in the preparation, development of doctrine, tactics and procedures."
"We just got through with a review that had to do with...the quality of the division-level manuals.... Almost every change the writers made, they used as the experience level, the experience they got out was with (our rotations)."
"We now have...theater CINCs who welcome the Training Center to send reps out to see doctrine, tactics and procedures in action, for us then to bring back here to in turn share with our clients." "I don't want to say we should be called a battle lab, but we really have been for the Army in OOTW. We really have been for the Army in the area of forced entry. We have been in the area of own the night...."
"I think the best solution is probably a small cell of people that are kind of the adjunct to the operations group who are collectors of information for whatever purpose.... The challenge to the Army is to figure out what the specific topics are that need immediate attention and then try to focus the energy of the O/Cs on a specific area of need...."
"We need a formal process in the operations groups where they sit down and formally say what doctrinal things need to be changed and give input in an intelligent way to the doctrinal people...."
"An initiative...would be to have doctrine writers come here. The ultimate would be to have one or two over here working for the school, but duty station at JRTC to get immediate feedback, interview O/Cs, observe actions, to be able to feed it back via electronic means...."
"If we can't get the doctrine writers here permanently, then I want the O/Cs, provided it is given to them in a timely manner, the opportunity to review mission training plans and doctrinal training literature. So they have an O/C seal of approval before they go final."
"BCTP (cannot) validate this or that.... We are not validators in the classic sense. First of all, the simulation is (so broad) that it's not analytical in its nature and you can't trust the outcomes from the simulation to validate anything."
"We can, in fact, confirm or deny emerging doctrine."
CURRENT ASSESSMENT. The CTCs and their O/C cadres are the de facto link between peacetime first-hand experience by practitioners and the rest of the Army, including doctrine writers. That linkage is entirely informal. Largely a function of personalities, informal contacts and initiative, the O/Cs interface with the branch schools and tactical units relatively frequently. CTC opinion and comment is regularly sought on draft manuals. Formal and semiformal distribution of "lessons learned" and "observations," including literature from CALL, are eagerly sought by troop leaders, to some degree driven by the desire for success in upcoming CTC rotations. O/Cs participate in pre-command training and officer branch school curriculum development by video-teleconference or actual travel. An important avenue of CTC influence on emerging doctrine is publication by CTC-experienced soldiers in the professional journals of the services. As training development and doctrine development resources in TRADOC diminish, this informal role is increasing in importance to unit leaders seeking the best available thought on tactics, techniques and procedures.
FUTURE IMPLICATIONS. The CTCs' role in doctrine development should be formalized. The CTCs remain the most realistic substitute for actual combat experience available in peacetime. O/Cs see first hand where doctrine does and does not provide adequate guidance for warfighting, OOTW and training. Such validity is likely to increase as the sophistication of simulations increases and as the CTCs forge more links to forces deployed on real operations.
The CTCs should be resourced to accomplish a doctrinal role. Causing O/Cs to write (or even formally staff) doctrinal publications distracts them from training the rotational unit and risks overtaxing them. Also, doctrinal publications must remain a TRADOC responsibility to ensure that our doctrine does not become solely a function of the perhaps unique conditions at one or more CTCs. Establishing doctrinal development detachments from TRADOC at each CTC would be a wise investment of resources. Such cells could have direct access to CTC rotations and O/C cadres and use information-age technology to link to each other and the rest of the TRADOC community. They could be manned by a combination of soldiers and civilian contractors, either of whom could be former O/Cs. They could capture, analyze, coordinate and disseminate observations and recommendations from rotations; draft doctrinal literature; and assist the CTC commander with staffing such drafts.
Such cells could also perform a valuable function by preparing interim doctrinal statements on observations of immediate relevance. In earlier periods of change, the Army published emergent ideas in temporary publications that were authoritative but not directive, such as the TCs of the 1970s and 1980s. These dealt with TTP, as opposed to less ephemeral principles of operation, and their contents were usually modified and incorporated into more permanent field manuals after the benefit of extensive field experience. The CTCs are an ideal arena for capturing TTP. O/Cs frequently see recurring battlefield problems solved by expedient techniques that should be, but are not, in our doctrine. Some of these are disseminated by semiformal means (client update letters, O/C visits, the Center for Army Lessons Learned), all constrained by the time available to O/C authors. A dedicated TRADOC detachment resident at each CTC and charged with doctrinal dissemination via TCs could dramatically improve this effort.
Our CTCs are too important a resource to be only casually linked to the development of doctrine. Their role should be formalized and they should be resourced accordingly.
by COL PAUL H. HERBERT, IN
DISCLAIMER: The above article has been edited to remove any reference to specific units. CALL and the Combat Training Centers have stringent "non-attribution" policies and will not publish any individual- or unit-specific information.
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