Page 35 - Cormorant 2019

ACSC 22 – An Industry Perspective Mike Nayler
IN JANUARY 2019, COLLEAGUES from across the Defence industry took an immersive role for three weeks in the Defence Policy to Capability (DP2C) module of ACSC22. During the module, each syndicate welcomed two or three Industry partners, who were actively engaged in all aspects of the module from briefings and lectures through to syndicate work and personal study.
The module required the industry participants to undertake some pre- work before the course and to deliver three different presentations during the module, both individually and as part of the syndicate. The primary role of the industry participants was to provide an industry perspective on the process, working through from Defence Policy to the decision process on procurement.
I am happy to report that as a result
of our expert involvement, Visimal is a much safer country, having all the military hardware it could ever need!
The DP2C module provides industry and military attendees an opportunity to see how the process works from their perspective; it gives the industry participants a thorough understanding of how the process evolves, but
more importantly shows why certain decisions are made and the underlying drivers. For the military participants, we hope it was an opportunity to understand what causes frustration for industry with the Defence procurement process and gave an insight into
how industry responds to military requirements.
Outside the classroom and lecture theatre, this spirit of co-operation and mutual understanding was cemented through syndicate events and engaging
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socially in the gym and bar; the residential nature of the course makes this a really useful and important part of the whole experience.
Speaking personally, I thoroughly enjoyed my three-week experience
at Shrivenham. It gave me a solid understanding of the DP2C process and helped change my thinking about how industry and Defence can work better together in the future. I remain immensely impressed that the UK makes such a huge investment in
its senior staff, which is clearly why so many other nations choose to send their people to the UK Defence Academy and why our senior military personnel are respected around the world. The international nature of the course was very interesting, with the
opportunity to gain an insight into the pressures experienced in different
Defence forces and how they deliver the needs of their respective nations. I hope that in future the Defence Academy looks at other modules to assess whether the involvement of industry could add useful perspective and insight.
I am sure I speak for all my industry colleagues in wishing all the best
to those who now go on to take up command and staff roles in their respective countries and branches. For myself, I regularly wear my Cormorant cufflinks and look back on my time on ACSC22 and the Defence Academy with real fondness and pride.
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Speaking
personally, I thoroughly
enjoyed my three-week experience at Shrivenham. ◆◆◆