Understanding The Experiential Learning Process

In 2012, General Dempsey states “Mission Command is fundamentally a learned behavior to be imprinted into the DNA of a profession of arms.” The way Mission Command has evolved through the past years is indicative to the US Military adjusting to a new threat. The concept of Mission Command is not new, what is important is how General Dempsey states “Education in the fundamental principles of mission command must begin at the start of service and be progressively more challenging..” The General emphasizes the need for education at the start of the individual’s service. Additionally, this highlights the United States Army’s doctrinal adjustment to the new threat. During the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, the US faced an enemy whose creativity and adaptability are two of its greatest assets. The fast-paced situation changes in both of those AOs required tactical level leadership maintain the autonomy to “exercise disciplined initiative.” This type of initiative historically leads to mission success, specifically in fast-paced situations where a key to success is forcing the enemy to react.

In the times in which we live technology, knowledge, development strategies and the environment involve a complex panorama that the U.S. Army must face. The most efficient way is through specialized training and looking for means to develop NCOs for the challenges of upcoming event. The NCO 2020 strategy changes the way we educate and train our Soldiers. The educational model used by the military in the last decade was the Noncommissioned Officer Education System (NCOES). This now going to be transformed into Noncommissioned Officer Professional Development System, or NCOPDS. One of the most important goals of this new educational model is that it will provide the Soldier with a long-term career focused on the training, education and experiences acquired during his career, being these institutional, operational or self-development.

The situation in today 's Army is clearly much different from what existed years ago. Many changes have occurred, moving the Army 's EO program from a strictly educational and training initiative to a multifaceted management program with clear goals and objectives. These goals and objectives are also an integral part of human relations and are nurtured and developed through a professional military education system.

Development is a life long trait or goal. Develops and development are linked. Development is defined as the deliberate, continuous, sequential, and progressive process, grounded in Army values, that grows Soldiers and civilians into competent and confident leaders capable of decisive action. Senior Warrant Officers are significant in the role of developers. They are commonly tasked with the role of becoming a front line leader. Senior Warrant Officers are also in the business of leader development especially for young lieutenants. This development is achieved through lifelong progress of gaining knowledge, skills, and experiences through institutional education, organizational training, operational experience, and

Force management, or what is really otherwise known as planned comprehensive change, is in reality a complex and interwoven process. Though it was designed within the confines of a systemic approach referred to as the DOTMLPF (Doctrine, Organization, Training, Materiel, Leadership & Education, Personnel and Facilities), in reality it is meant to enable both dutiful and well-thought out change as well as faster, more urgent adjustments in accordance with the evolving nature of war and information gathering tactics. The Army, as one branch involved in this initiative, focuses most of its attention in this regard on the organizational sector because of the way it facilitates an adequate and democratic step-by-step system of review (Student Reader, F102:2). But the fact is that even this initiative remains multi-faceted and appears to be rather bureaucratic in nature (it has five phases, which seems antithetical to an urgent change process), which might not be surprising since implementing the type of changes that are demanded can have major implications of all sorts. Still, it does appear that this concentration is being well received and that it will eventually serve its goal even if it does not appear that way when detailed on a point by point basis.

The Army completed two vitally important publications in 2014. The first was the much-anticipated U.S. Army Operating Concept: Win in a Complex World 2020-2040. This work, with a foreword from the Chief of Staff of the Army, “provides the intellectual foundation and framework for learning and for applying what we learn to future force development under Force 2025 and Beyond.” The TRADOC Commanding General’s foreword emphasizes that the Army Operating Concept’s “vision of the future must drive change to ensure that Army forces and prepared to prevent conflict, shape the security environment, and win wars.” The Army Operating Concept includes an acknowledgment of the “continuities in the nature of war as well as an appreciation for changes in the character of armed conflict” and references Thucydides and Clausewitz. A number of themes emerge from the Army Operating Concept’s vision of the future. These include complexity, ambiguity, multiplicity, adaptation,

As stewards of our profession, commanders ensure that military expertise continues to develop and be passed on to aspiring professionals through operational development. It is during this developmental phase that Professional Soldiers put their knowledge and skills to the test. Operational Army units certify and recertify their Professional Soldiers through repetitive and realistic training events including the Combat Life Saver Course, platoon live fires, and exercises at the National Training Center. In the course of these challenging and realistic experiences, the Army’s operational units develop Soldiers and leaders prepared to maintain high standards, discipline, and operational readiness. Operational development and adaptability will continue to drive changes in Army doctrine, organization, leadership, and education as we enter the post-war era. Without this kind of development, the Army could not maintain a well-disciplined professional fighting force.

Reflection is a tool that is used within many disciplines including teaching and within the legal profession

Adaptive leadership is becoming widespread in the United States Army amongst junior officers in leadership positions that require quick thinking and innovation. Leonard Wong discusses how the versatile and unpredictable enemy and situations in Iraq produces adaptable junior officers. These officers are learning to make decisions under chaotic conditions and are becoming more mentally agile. The Army is changing. The Army is transforming its capabilities in the war in Iraq to be effective and successful. General Schoomaker states that we will not accomplish our goals as a nation in the 21st century unless our Army becomes much more agile but with the capacity for long term, sustained level of conflict. The Army is in the process of

The Army is a profession because it requires a collaboration of highly training Soldiers who possess specialized skills that combine to operate in complex situations in more complex environments. General Martin Dempsey stated that “The Profession of Arms requires expert knowledge, and that expertise is manifested as unique skills in the individual professional and by Army units.” For the purpose of this paper the operational definition of the term profession is: a type of job that requires special education training, or skill. In order to meet and maintain the demands of this definition, The Army has established the Army Development Model which consists of institutions, operational training, and self-development to create highly skilled service members.

Although Roger’s experiential learning theory has provided many examples of advantages, there are some limitations that follow in his outlined theory. When discussing the implications of experiential learning, we often wonder what the full meaning represents. “The main problem about experience, a problem which precedes questions about how we can learn best from experience, lies in a double unsaid: a silence about the implication of experience in language and a silence about the implication of experiential learning in discourse” (Boud, Cohen & Walker, 1993, p. 169). This author explains that through the very subconscious thoughts, we often approach events believing that they have to acquire a particular meaning. Sometimes

People are not known for the plans that they have, they are known for the things that they accomplish. In saying this the Field Period opportunity provided by Keuka College has put me in many situations to appreciate and acknowledge this difference. At the Eastern Farm Workers Association, when given the chance to learn the true value of donated labor it was never unnoticed. However, this method was one that required total membership involvement, consequently leading the organization to unforeseen consequences such as decreased efficiency and  overall all outreach. Following this same ideology, P.E.A.C.E proved to be an organization that provided a uniquely different but predictable approach to fixing societal inequality

OSINT is not a new concept. Rathmell and Valeri state that Intelligence Agencies have always used foreign newspapers, academic consultants and debriefings from international travellers. According to Hulnick, OSINT makes up 70-80% or more of the United States Intelligence Database. Flood confirms that this is the case in Australia and with the ONA. With the development of computing technology, the creation of the Internet and the ease in which anyone can publish information, Hulnick informs that the problem is not where the intelligence is, but rather “the ability of analysts to sort through it”. While he continues to say that credible intelligence product can be developed from OSINT alone, Treverton takes this point to its logical conclusion. He predicts that analysts will have to compete with CNN, academics, and private organizations like Jane’s or STRATFOR in providing their product. If this is the case, then what separates intelligence collection from researchers of opinion pieces or journal articles?

Being involved in this multi-disciplinary study tour has provided me with the opportunity to have multiple educational and confronting experiences that would otherwise be difficult to experience in Australia through a textbook. Whilst being in Sri Lanka we were able to be involved, tested and challenged at the various organizations, institutes, schools and hospitals. Visiting a wide variety of health systems throughout Sri Lanka provided an insight to the development of the country and the issues they face. The healthcare professionals were very specific and concise when explaining the ongoing problems they encounter and how they plan to target them.

In the reading Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development by David Kolb (1984), he proposed that learning is a cycle process in which individuals learn through their own experiences in life. This notion of the learning cycle in which he was influenced by the ideas of three other theorists (Piaget, Dewey, and Lewinian) called it Experiential Learning Theory. Kolb’s theory was based on how people learned by imputing information and processing the information. Within this two abilities, there are four steps in which Kolb’s believe the learning process occurs. The first one he calls “concrete experience”, in which one actually does the learning right then and now. The second one is “reflective observation” when the learner thinks about what they did as a reflection of the experience. The next step is the “abstract conceptualization”, where the learner makes a generalization of the experience. The last step is “active experimentation”, where the learner puts to practice his/her understanding and adapts to it. The learner does this by taking all the first three steps of the learning cycle and seeing the results (pg. 30). Learning is a process in which individuals learn through trial and error. This process can then be reused with our prior experience to strengthen the outcome of our first experience. It is shaped as a cycle in the way we process information cognitively. This is how I understood of the reading on Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory.