Page 18 - MBS 2022/23

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ARMY HEADQUARTERS
PERSONNEL POLICY (ARMY) – PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (PROF DEV)
Another year in Army HQ whistles by with much change, and for a second-year large staff churn within Prof Dev. This year we said goodbye to Majors Sean Semple (AT & Sport policy), Iain Bareham (PT policy), Barry Alexander (Physical Employment Standards (PES)) and WO2 Chris Williams, personally I thank them for their commitment, sage input and support whilst in the HQ which can be a challenging environment without quality personnel to maintain morale and have a laugh with. Replacements within the HQs are Majors Mark Galley, Will Pacter and Nick Mathieson, having taken over the batons they have taken 4* strategy and policy business forward, I will leave their notes to provide the details.
Wider across the workforce, a new Assistant Head (AHd), Colonel Colette Macdonald arrived and sadly left in Jan 23, a new SO1 Prof Dev, Lt Col Laura Craig-Braddock arrived in Oct 22, and several other policy desk Officers have changed. All have come with soft- gapping which continues to add resource pressure against a demanding portfolio of Personnel Directorate outputs.
The paragraphs that follow offer a concise overview of Army HQ business needing SO1 Ind Trg focus over the last year.
The Army People Plan (APP)
The APP continues to mature with various work threads and projects taking shape, Project (Pj) EDGE (Enhancing Deployability & Generating Excellence) and Pj PHIT (Physical Health for Individuals and Teams) under the Health, Performance and Wellbeing Line of Effort (LoE) have and will further require critical PD input. Both are Human Performance Research & Innovation projects seeking to understand and generate physical performance enhancement around behaviour change to support Op MOBILISE and Future Soldier.
Training Development Team (TDT)
Under the APP Talent Development LoE, the TDT have completed a total requirement review and the associated DSAT documents for the Basic Training Adaptation Programme which is a review of Soldier and Officer Basic Training (BT) to seek resource efficiencies and training optimisation. As mentioned in last year’s notes, the development of training and an education package around Substance Misuse (SM) has been completed by WO2 Chris Williams and the TDT; a critical necessity to improve soldier knowledge and behaviours. Further, as a critical asset,
The Prof Dev PD Team. From L-R: Maj Mark Galley, Lt Col Nick O’Shea & Maj Will Pacter.
Lt Col (MAA) N O’Shea RAPTC
the TDT have continued to contribute to Prog CASTLE development lines and provided DSAT SME input for other Army capability requirements (Human Security, Info Manoeuvre....).
Physical Employment Standards (PES)
From a PES perspective, the original PES Research and Development and the Role Fitness Test suite provides critical support and the evidence foundation for the ‘PES Next Steps’ work. Lt Col Julie Draper (SO1 OM) and Maj Nick Mathieson along with the University of Chichester, have now baselined the MSFT and WATT Bike test to the 2km run standard and worked with Infantry Battle School (IBS) Brecon to establish physical risk reduction exercises to support the arduous nature of IBS courses. Also, they have continued to refine the Army’s swimming PES requirement and are shaping physical training courses of action for the arduous training at the Combined Arms Manoeuvre School (CAMS), Warminster. All have involved SO1 Ind Trg and SO2 PT Policy input to support these requirements and shape policy change.
Individual Training (Ind Trg)
As mentioned in last year’s notes this is another busy policy desk covering a broad span of policy business, sadly due to workforce savings, when Maj Chandra Pun leaves this September, he will not be replaced therefore his responsibilities will be shared out across other Prof Dev policy desks. The following provides an overview
of the Ind Trg policy business he and I have been involved with this year. The completion of a Cultural Understanding (CU) training needs analysis, a complex project cohering SME input from across Defence to set a new CU requirement, provided support to HQ RC to finalise a Head of Establishment (HoE) Trg and Ed package, refinement to AGAI 23 Battlefield Studies to include new Cyber requirements, and we have just started the development of a new Army Command Standing Order (ACSO) Pre Employment Training policy, to name but a few.
Physical Development (PD)
Whilst Will, Mark and Mr Williams have provided comprehensive notes of their business, I provide the following as fillers.
My Army Fitness (MAF) App
After a protracted period, the MAF App was launched in Nov 22, so thanks to the team involved, in particular Capt Joe Foreshew who was instrumental in getting the App across the line. Whilst the conceptual estimate of developing a fitness App may have been simple, the realities of developing a modern App aligned to MoD policy is far from it. Anyway, the MAF App now provides the CoC with a functional Army Physical Training System (APTS) handrail when away from formal PTI led sessions. The App’s future development, and establishing a core business owner will be critical to its success in supporting Soldier physical performance against the Future Soldier global narrative.