Page 15 - Cormorant Issue 18

Throughout the course the emphasis was on how to think, not what to think and despite the inevitable pressures of being under the spotlight there was plenty of opportunity for personal re ection and team camaraderie. The staff ride paper also gave each student
a chance for in-depth personal research
into a speci c historical event and its contemporary lessons. The nale of HCSC was the staff ride visit where the King’s College academics and each student had the opportunity to bring to life the history and continued relevance of each event as we journeyed across Europe.
While each student will have their
own re ections on HCSC, common
themes would undoubtedly include: an appreciation of the privileged access we have had to develop our own understanding
Presentation of a King sher by HCSC 15 to Brig Neil Marshall, Course Director,
of command; and the invaluable opportunity we have enjoyed to build a network of trusted peers.
The Foothills of an Information Age
by Wg Cdr Adam Bone
13
COMMANDER JOINT FORCE COMMAND recently reminded us that we are ‘in the foothills of an information age’. As
he spoke, a cross-section of his aspiring leaders were listening intently, marching
on and climbing the ACSC hill. Now having descended from Mount Shrivenham, looking back it is hugely gratifying to
re ect on the ground that has been covered over recent months. However, the rapidly evolving nature of con ict of which the ACSC 18 cohort were informed, suggests that there is greater merit in looking forward. Our Shrivenham colleagues
at DCDC, and their Future Challenges of Con ict publication (with which we have become unsociably familiar), attempt to outline these patterns of con ict, and the future battle elds upon which we will nd ourselves in the coming decades.
In lea ng through the ‘Future Challenges’ publication one cannot help but ponder
whether the confused faces that
greet the commander waving a hand
over a large-scale map, declaring that one should ‘do some cyber here,’ will fade as
the years pass and the leaders of tomorrow increasingly ‘get’ technology and the capability it can bring. After all, ACSC students now walk into the Cormorant
Hall armed only with a tablet rather than clutching a weighty print-out; if it can happen here, it can happen anywhere. Technology is grasped by some and forced upon others. Either way, it’s endemic to the environment in which we now live and ght.
‘Big Data’ and the Internet of Things
have invariably been one of the not-so subliminal headlines of the course. While the ambiguity of terms such as this are met with the sceptical ‘that’s another fad’ grin, our leaders of tomorrow should take heed; many of the generation before us, listening intently to thoughts on global strategic trends on ACSC courses of years gone by,