Military Review English Edition November-December 2013 | Page 30

Active Experimentation

Reflective Observation

Beginning with the operational domain, training development domains, and why, perhaps more
is conducted in various individual and collective relevantly, it concludes that, “People, rather than
events. Once a training event concludes, leaders technology, systems or processes, are the center
at every level have the opportunity to conduct of [mission command].”21
reflective observation (usually an after action
What this may mean in practice for now is that
review). By reflecting on the concrete experience the system needs time to work. Leaders are not
of training, tactics, techniques, and procedures developed overnight, and certainly not if the Army
are refined; ideas are then developed and applied as a whole is trying a new idea. If we teach misin future training. When soldiers depart their sion command in the schoolhouse then we must
organization to attend training in the institutional practice in training, and perhaps more importantly,
domain, the cycle continues. In the classroom our leaders’ experiences outside of controlled setsetting, these leaders begin with concrete expe- tings must positively reinforce the wisdom and
rience and reflection and use their operational benefit of the philosophy. It is important then for
experience to conceptualize new ideas, which the Army to seize the opportunity now to reinforce
they will further develop and apply. This process mission command in our thinking, actions, activiis perpetual in the self-development domain as ties, and processes.
well. Since the student continually transitions or
By applying mission command in the operaprogresses through each domain, the knowledge tional domain, and by observing or reflecting on
synthesized by this process (the combined