Page 5 - Cormorant Issue 19 - 2016

think, how you analyse ideas and problems. During the course of the year you will have seen and
heard many new things and, no doubt, many old things. I hope what you have seen and heard, what it has been suggested you read, watch or listen
to when you have more time (a long list I know)
has reinvigorated your thirst for both personal
and professional development. I think the ACSC Directing Staff – military, academic and contractor
– have done a great job providing you with what
you absolutely need and exposing you to new and interesting material. However, ultimately it is how you use the learning you have gained in the year
at Shrivenham that counts. A large part of the experience is the opportunity to meet, work with
and understand people from different countries, cultures, religions and services, and to understand their backgrounds and the effect this has on the
way they think and operate. It should also have allowed you to build your own professional network. Our task is a human endeavour and it is how you combine your own thinking and determination to succeed with the power and capacity of others that will determine whether you prevail or fail. From what I have seen I believe you should prevail, but there are no guarantees, which is why my last bit of advice to you all, which I repeat from last year, is to continue your own professional development and assist the development of those for whom you are responsible – you have no greater task. Our operational edge derives from the quality and capacity of our people, an edge must be honed to be effective and as of cers and leaders it is the intellectual edge you must hone.
I wish you Godspeed and Soldatenglück,
ACSC – What was your Journey Like ? By Lt Col Darren Baysting AGC(RMP)
IT DOES NOT SEEM a year since 273 assorted of cers representing 49 nations assembled in the Cormorant Hall to undertake three terms of combined military and academic study. Breaking down into 86 International, 76 Land, 50 Air, 52 Maritime and 9 Civil Servants the students
of ACSC 19 were the second course to undertake the modularly designed ‘Ends’, ‘Ways’ and ‘Means’ structured course. However numbers alone do not convey the individual and collective journeys navigating our way towards a greater understanding of joint, integrated and multi- national defence issues. Throughout we have enjoyed time to re ect and have become scalable and adaptable lecture critics giving immediate feedback via Twitter and WhatsApp. The challenges presented along the way have been both personal and collective but the sense of relief and achievement on course completion is profound. The following therefore is intended to summarise our 46 week journey.
The aim of ACSC is to cultivate selected of cers
for high-grade assignments, including command, by focusing their effective intellect, developing associated analytical, decision-making and communication skills, complemented by broadening of their professional knowledge and perspective through a deeper appreciation of single Service, joint, combined and multiagency operations a
better understanding of the higher management of Defence and a comprehensive grasp of strategy, Security and Defence in political, international and
“
nancial contexts. Although the course aim held true throughout, a lot does change in a year. At the start of the course the political context was very much focused on the new government and the forthcoming Defence Review. Much discussion considered how Defence gaps could be lled and, once announced, how the SDSR provisions would be employed and the development of the whole force approach.
Early course discussions were therefore set against a backdrop of reducing western defence spending, concerns within NATO as to burden sharing, the continuation of violent extremism, the ongoing situation in Syria and Iraq, Russian competition with NATO, China’s growing power, instability in Africa, the developments in anti-access denial, cyber and migration. Thoughts were shaped by the role of the EU as a Security Actor; however, as we end the course we will now be deeply involved in supporting the BREXIT process and its implications
Cormorant Editorial Team
PAGE 3
The challenges
presented along the way have been
both personal and
collective...
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