MAGAZINE
SPRING 2020
Training Leaders Through Exercises
By Lieutenant Colonel Francois DICKES , French Army , LANDCOM G-7
“ In strategy , you have effectively won when you forestall the enemy , so you must train well to attain this .”
- Miyamoto Musashi , The Book of Five Rings , Book of Fire , 1644
Photo credit : Spanish Army
enemy , you estimate its tactical strength and intuit its planned strategy .” 1 Exercises also offer this opportunity to model or mimic an enemy , giving him life with a high level of realism . Thus , this allows leaders to jump into what is not only the shock of fire and steel , but an intellectual challenge .
There is a simple truth when it comes to military leaders : They are accountable for the welfare of their subordinates . Poorly equipped leaders pay with the lives of soldiers on the field of battle , and untrained leaders multiply the risks of defeat . This is why military exercises in particular are critical for the leaders of military organizations . What they may cost monetarily , they spare in blood . Rigorous training exercises are the absolute key to training military leaders at all levels of the chain of command , and they allow these leaders to build their team of teams and enable readiness to fight tomorrow ’ s wars . Exercises in today ’ s changing threat environment provide a realistic opportunity for military leaders to train with confidence and even audacity .
Leaders as a training audience
Carl von Clausewitz described war as first a confrontation of will . Among the awareness generating qualities of exercises is the likelihood for military leaders to compare their will to that of the enemy . As General Stanley McChrystal , former U . S . Commander of NATO Forces in Afghanistan once wrote , “ when facing the
This becomes all the more important as these opportunities to exercise leaders in relative peacetime provides them a chance to assess their own operational readiness and that of their troops . The practice of a progressive exercise regimen gives leaders necessary snapshots in readiness at specific moments in time , which in turn fosters awareness and opens the path to progress within their organisations . Exercise by exercise , as each training venue concludes and the “ reset ” button is pressed for the next iteration , these leaders learn from their experiences and concentrate on the next steps toward full readiness .
Exercises as team of team building opportunity
The best military leader is useless if they do not have a trained team capable of planning , preparing , and executing . Exercises allow leaders to see their teams operate together and showcase their own leadership abilities . To them , exercises are a valuable occasion of building teams and shaping them to their leader ’ s needs . Furthermore , they are an occasion for the military leader to let a staff work on its own and watch it evolve , like a humble gardener
46
( 1 ) Stanley McChrystal It Takes a Network . The new front line of modern warfare . Foreign Policy , February 21 , 2011 .