Page 57 - Mercian Eagle Year of 2023

Project ADAIR
Lt Col Adrian Garrett
The Regular Commissioning Course has existed in its current guise since 2015 when Project McNAMARA attempted
to reset the course to conventional warfighting. It had been adapted over a decade to prepare officers for counter- insurgency campaigning and had become disjointed and in parts lacked relevancy. At the same time many other well intended efficiencies were made to the course programme as well as multiple attempts at modernisation. Since this time, the course has not kept pace with learning technology, developments in education or British Army strategy. In many respects, the recoil spring proved too strong and much of what was being
taught in 2022 had more than a passing resemblance to the course my generation attended over twenty years ago.
It was therefore a great privilege in
my last year of command of Cambridge University Officer Training Corps to also lead Sandhurst transformation under Project ADAIR. The main improvement
to Sandhurst courses will come from their integration with the Army’s ‘How We Will Fight 2026’ concept, and future change will complement the Army’s transformation out to 2030 under Project WAVELL. Practically, for the Regular Commissioning Course this means it
will reduce from 44 to 42 weeks and will include three new weeks - Adventurous Training week; Field Army focus week; and a Futures focus week. The new Regular Commissioning Course will be rolled-out from May 2024 with the course
fully reset by April 2025.
Under Project ADAIR and the
Sandhurst Strategy 2030, Sandhurst plans to enhance all its leadership courses
with a vision to ‘Develop generations of leaders who can consistently out-think and out-manoeuvre their opponents in the most challenging environments.’ This recognises that which must endure but also that which must evolve - including enhancements to the digital skills training delivered by these courses, exposure to all the capabilities employed by the modern Army and a greater focus on Combined Arms Manoeuvre. Critical will be creating a culture of excellence and an officer corps that can adapt but also adopt technology at pace, both cognitively and physically, and therefore set conditions
for future Army modernisation and warfighting success.
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Centre for Army Leadership
Lt Col Dean Canham, heading up the Centre for Army Leadership
Having a Mercian well-placed in somewhere like the Centre for Army Leadership means those in the Regiment can more freely reach in for direct advice, support, and recommendations on all things leadership. It is a fact that soldiers and officers who are better led are more likely to enjoy their time in the Army and therefore are more likely to perform better (and stay in it). For the Army, and the Regiment, it is therefore something we must all seek to continually improve on.
Lt Col Dean Canham OBE
The Centre for Army Leadership exists to champion and drive leadership excellence, ultimately to increase fighting power. We drive the development of exceptional leaders at all ranks of the British Army – soldiers and officers – and also demonstrate the benefit of Army leadership for the whole nation, by conducting outreach to other public sector organisations and allies.
Six months into the role, I can reflect that the Army’s doctrine and thinking on leadership is advanced, readable, and progressive. As with much other doctrine,
the first challenge is getting people to read it! The more fundamental hurdle though,
for individuals and the Army, is using the doctrine and our latest thinking to actually change and develop behaviours, to improve our leadership for the benefit of individuals, teams, the Regiment, and the Army. As such, the Centre for Army Leadership is seeking to advertise and implement as much of its leadership advice and training to as much of the Army as possible. It is available freely to all on the Centre for Army Leadership’s website.
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