Training management is one of the core competencies of non-commissioned officers (NCO), which requires specific skills for the leaders in training soldiers for high-quality performance. The case study introduces the Dagger Brigade’s efforts to fill in the gap in staffing and ensure mission goals achievements. Under the circumstances of the urgent need for deployment to Germany within the European Reassurance Initiative realm, the leadership of the brigade is facing severe challenges. They include personnel shortage, diminished personnel’s strengths in their competencies, the lack of personnel’s readiness to take positions, and difficulty managing personnel turnover. Moreover, there are problems with the sufficient supply of equipment necessary for successful mission completion. In order to address these challenges, the leadership applies several strategic steps based on the training management competency.
The management of the brigade performs its direct duties of providing high-quality training experience for the soldiers within the competency of training management. It is acknowledged that “NCOs are directly responsible for training individual Soldiers, crews, and teams” (The NCO Leadership Center of Excellence, n. d., p. 5). NCOs must apply their skills to “plan, prepare, execute, and assess sustained and effective training” (The NCO Leadership Center of Excellence, n. d., p. 5). The stages of planning and executing are particularly challenging for the brigade due to the inconsistency in schedules of rotation and training. To ensure unit’s effective training management for the purpose of mission accomplishment, the management must align the rotation schedule with a training schedule to ensure consistency in the training process. Therefore, the officers responsible for the training of the brigade initiate alternative scheduling that adjusts to the complexity of rotation schedules. Also, the extension of the duration of training courses is requested to increase the chances of the soldiers with high rotation frequency to complete their training.
Apart from scheduling issues, the brigade’s leaders encounter the shortage of equipment and inconsistency between personnel competencies and skill requirements of the available positions. As for equipment deficit, the leaders request more training gear from the responsible bodies, and the request is satisfied. On the other hand, the inconsistency in skills is addressed through extensive, multifaceted training. According to Whelan and Feeney (2020), “the ultimate objective of all military training is to develop individuals, units and formations in order to ensure military success” (p. 7). It is through generated teamwork that the leaders are capable of enabling experience exchange and quality training. Another constraint is that the army is not sufficiently provided by funding. Soldiers’ positions take less time than ever, which induces the difficulties in the promotion and high rotation level. Therefore, the officers ask for more funding to meet the requirements of maintenance and training.
The performance of NCO leaders within the tasks imposed by the European Reassurance Initiative deployment is aligned to the demands of the training management competency. NFOs are expected to lead effective training for soldiers to ensure qualitative training for army needs. Given the variety of challenges, namely shortage of funding, inconsistency with training and rotation schedule, non-readiness of the staff, and limited-time opportunities to train, the leaders applied necessary strategies. More funding, an extension of training duration, customized training planning, and multifaceted training programs are considered to be effective ways to manage the unit and ensure the accomplishment of mission goals.
References
The NCO Leadership Center of Excellence. (n. d.). NCO common core competencies for professional military: Education Reference Curriculum – Volume I. 2020. Web.
Whelan, R., & Feeney, S. (2020). An investigation into the transferable skills of non-commissioned officers (NCOs) in the Defence Forces of Ireland (army only) on retirement. DBS Business Review, 3, 1-12.