Page 12 - Cormorant Issue 19 - 2016

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Service Introduction – Land. 1 – 16 Sep 2015 Lt Col Bryan Jones (REME)
THE AIM OF THE Land Introduction phase is to ‘understand and
analyse the theory and application of land power and re-introduce UK Land Students to
the UK Land Component, in order to “ enable them to subsequently
articulate their Service’s case on its
merits.’ There was a
The Land Introduction Phase clear sense of ACSC comprised of two and that things
a half weeks of familiarisation were changing
well as meeting the Defence Studies Department tutors brie y, too.
After initial hiccups and a brie ng
that enabled us to understand how
to appropriately conduct our own presentations the Land phase ploughed through doctrine, Army reform, command and decision making. There was a clear sense that things were changing rapidly in the Army and that
the pending SDSR would at least provide many of the questions that needed to be answered in due course.
The Ex AUTUMN BREEZE estimate exercise and TEWT was also an invaluable shake out, providing
a chance to reacquaint the students with a seven question estimate
in a Divisional scenario, as well
as an opportunity to visit the rather rainy Northern Downs and sample the better pubs around Southern England. A visit to Army HQ was also time exceptionally well spent, providing understanding of Defence and Army reform straight from those engaged in making those decisions.
In summary, the week was a valuable run out that set the context for Land students such that we were well prepared for the rigours that awaited us as the main course began.
with all things Army. It was a
chance to get back into the swing
of academics: studying and building routines to support the synthesis of vast quantities of information.
The forming of temporary syndicates felt distinctly familiar to graduates
of ICSC(L), although the pace was distinctly different; the aim was to provide a high speed overview of changes that had occurred since we had last been in Shrivenham, and there have been a lot of changes
in the last six to eight years. It
also provided the opportunity
to acquaint ourselves with
the college routine – lectures, Q&A, re ection, reading and discussion – as
rapidly in the
Army...
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Single Service Introduction – Air. 1 – 16 Sep 2015
Wg Cdr Paul Yates RAF
THE AIM OF THE Air Service Introduction was to develop a
broad awareness of the current issues facing the Royal Air Force and re ect on individual
command, leadership and management experiences to enable RAF Advanced Command and Staff Course Of cers to be reliable and knowledgeable single service advocates in the joint space.
ACSC 19 started briskly for the Royal Air Force cohort with a string of
eminent air of cers arriving to brief us on the very latest challenges facing the Service. The Command, Leadership and Management theme was immediately crystallized with keynote addresses from the Assistant Chief of the Air Staff, AVM Knighton, and the Station Commander of the largest Royal Air Force Station, Gp Capt Edwards from Brize Norton. Although we may have been slightly weary from the 37
pieces of pre-course reading (they did warn us), the ever keen students had the air environment brought to life by the insightful and entertaining presentations by the King’s College airpower experts Dr Christina Goulter and Dr David Jordan, and also the leading airpower academic Dr Peter Gray from the University of Birmingham.
From their perspectives, Air Power
has some unique challenges ahead as possibly the most misunderstood of military disciplines but also one at the forefront of technological change and current operations. This was brought starkly home to the course by OC 12 Squadron, who had returned that day from Operations over Iraq conducting strikes against the so called Islamic State. The challenge for the course ahead was to reconcile or confront
the common perceptions of air power while remaining rmly in the joint space. Brimming with the most up-to-date perspectives on the Royal Air Force, the students only had one trial to get through unscathed before the start
of the main course – the inter-Service sports competition, which unfortunately was won by the Army.