Defence`s Feeds

In this week’s CCLKOW blog, we welcome back our Colonel Panter-Downes with this piece on learning between the services. While few argue against the value of experience to inform contemporary wisdom, knowledge sharing across the domains and individual services is too often blocked by service culture myopias. Wisdom must necessarily be stunted, lessons foresaken, where such siloing of knowledge is imposed. The last 75 years of military history have seen a rise of institutional jointness in strategy, doctrine and operations, and capabilities have improved from the synergies that have emerged. It seems then, we find ourselves at the last frontier of resistance, where the jointness must be encouraged at the level of individual development and thought. Providing examples of the valuable lessons found within the pages of naval and air experience, Colonel Panter-Downes offers an excellent starting point to begin a discussion on past learning and future opportunities. Read his piece and join us on Twitter at #CCLKOW.

 

I first went to sea at the same age as my father, aged 16. The difference between us however was that while he went to sea for 18 months (and returned home to the right house to find a different family in residence, my grandparents having moved house some 12 months after he went to sea), I went to sea for only two weeks, albeit on a “Tall Ship”. Before I left however, my mentor at school (a decorated RAF Bomber Command veteran) gave me two things, a camera and a journal to record my experiences. While I remain an indifferent photographer, the habit of keeping a (professional) journal has remained.

It seems apposite that an RAF veteran started me on the path of journal keeping. I have been very lucky in my service in that parts have been with the Royal Navy (including sea time) and in an Air Component HQ. The chance to serve so closely with (as opposed to alongside) sister services is relatively rare in both the UK and the US. My experiences with the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force have highlighted both mutual and exclusive strengths and weaknesses in much the same way that my current exchange to the US Army has. And yet, when it comes to inter-service learning, it seems to me we all tend to focus on our relative strengths and pay considerably less attention to learning from each other than we do to disparaging each other (and in this regard I have seen no difference in ethos between the US and UK armies). Nowhere is this more pronounced than in the realm of leadership practice. In the British Army we proudly extol that we “equip the man” (to fight) while the other Services “Man the equipment”. There is an element of truth in this but also a gross oversimplification as all Services are a system of systems and it also gives to those of us ‘in green’ a perhaps arrogant sense of moral superiority. It is in this vein of wisdom sharing and learning across Services that I want to look at the art of journal keeping.

At the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst officer cadets are also required to keep a journal, with a prize awarded for the best journal overall. I enjoyed keeping my journal at Sandhurst but what I do not recollect is any clear direction on what should be contained in the journal. Recently, while reading an autobiographical account of a midshipman in World War 2, I came across the following guide:

Journal for the use of Midshipmen

1. The journal is to be kept during the whole of a midshipman’ sea time. A second volume may be issued if required.

2. The Officer detailed to supervise instruction of Midshipmen will see that the Journals are kept in accordance with the instructions here under. He will initial the Journals at least once a month, and will see that they are written up from time to time during the month, not only immediately before they are called for inspection.

3. The Captain will have the Journals produced for his inspection from time to time and on a Midshipman leaving the ship, and will initial them at each inspection.

4. The following remarks indicate the main lines to be followed in keeping the Journal:-

(i) The objects of keeping the Journal are to train Midshipmen in

(a) The power of observation.

(b) The power of expression.

(c) The habit of orderliness.

(ii) Midshipmen are to record in their own language their observations about all matters of interest or importance in the work that is carried on, on their stations, in their Fleet, or in their Ship.

(iii) They may insert descriptions of places visited and of the people with whom they come into contact, and of harbours, anchorages and fortifications.

(iv) They may write notes on fuelling facilities, landing places, abnormal weather, prevailing winds and currents, salvage operations, foreign ships encountered and the manner in which foreign fleets are handled, gunnery and other practices, action in manoeuvres, remarks on tactical exercises. On the ship making a passage of sufficient interest they should note weather and noon positions.

(v) Separate entries need not necessarily be made for each day, full accounts should be given of any event of interest.

(vi) The letterpress should be illustrated with plans and sketches pasted into the pages of the Journal.

5. The Journal is to be produced at the examination in Seamanship for the rank of Lieutenant, when marks to a maximum of 50 will be awarded for it. [1]

Despite even this faltering initiation, the British Army officer corps seems pretty antipathetic to keeping journals which is cause for regret and concern. Journals are both an effective tool for professional development, but also a rich source for analysts and historians of the future. I never made my subalterns keep journals when I was in command, and with hindsight I wish I had. Time in command is short but fiercely formative, none more so than perhaps one’s first tour of command. Maintaining a record of time in command that includes professional analysis and acts as a vehicle for mentoring seems to me to be useful tool for both leaders and subordinates and one best learnt early. It is a lesson that the Royal Navy learnt but that the British Army appears to have remembered but dimly.

Looking broader afield there are also lessons aplenty to be had by looking at the experiences of other Services, and reading outside of one’s Service or component domain is inevitably rewarding.

One of the best books that I have read on organisational culture and (Mission) Command is “Rules of the Game: Jutland and British Naval Command”, an incisive critique on how to (mis)prepare an organisation in peacetime for war and the tensions inherent between what is needed in peacetime and what is needed in war. if you want to understand the development of systems and integration of new technology can be decisive then Stephen Bungay’s “The Most Dangerous Enemy” is a must read. Bungay’s book clearly illustrates how the development of an effective system can trump isolated flashes of superiority (whether technical or tactical) and how the development of such a system requires not just vision, but humility as well as technical competence. Neither of these two books are about the land domain, but they are profoundly illuminating to the common military endeavour and I gained many pertinent insights into how the army does, could and should operate from them.

So from rediscovering the art of journal keeping from the Royal Navy, to realising that for all our differences we share more similarities than we often acknowledge with our Sister Services, the challenge for #CCLKOW is (apart from keeping a journal) to identify what good practice in terms of ethos, training or leadership that you can take from a sister service.

I wish you all “A willing Foe and Sea-Room”. (Or, for the Americans, Fair Winds and Following Seas.)

 

Notes:

1 “A Home On The Rolling Main” by AGF Ditchman

Federica Mogherini, Head of the European Defence Agency, appoints three new chairmen for the EDA Steering Boards in National Armaments Directors, Capability Directors and R&T Directors compositions.

Following consultations, the three new chairs are:

• National Armaments Directors: Deputy Minister Daniel Koštoval (CZ), with effect from 1 September 2015;
• Capability Directors: Lt Gen Erhard Bühler (DE), with effect from 1 January 2016;
• R&T Directors: Dr Bryan Wells (UK), also from 1 January 2016.

“I first want to thank the outgoing chairs for their outstanding contribution to the work of the Agency”, said Jorge Domecq. “At the same time, I am confident that the professional experience and personal qualities of our incoming chairs will make them excellent chairmen. The Steering Boards at the level of National Armaments Directors, R&T Directors and Capability Directors provide important decision-making forums. The Agency is at the service of its Member States: their input is vital to planning cooperative defence projects.”

Deputy Minister Daniel Koštoval started his career in Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1996. Between 1998 and 2002 he worked at NATO in Brussels before moving to Moscow and Washington. In October 2011 he became first Director of the Security Policy Department and then Director General of the Section of Non-European Countries at the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was appointed First Deputy Minister of Defence in April 2013 and State Secretary in the Ministry of Defence in February 2014. He has held his current position as Deputy Minister – Head of the Defence Policy and Strategy Division at the Ministry of Defence since January 2015.

Lieutenant General Erhard Bühler joined the German Federal Armed Forces in 1976. Between 1984 and 2006 he held command positions within the armed forces as well as senior posts at the German Ministry of Defence before becoming Deputy Chief of Staff V in 2006. In 2013, he was appointed Commander of the NATO Joint Warfare Centre in Stavanger. He has held his current position of Director Defence Plans & Policy and Head of the Directorate General for Planning in the Federal Ministry of Defence in Bonn since August 2014. Lieutenant General Bühler also served in two combat missions. In 2004 he deployed to Prizren as Commander of the 9th German Kosovo Force Contingent and from 2010 to 2011 he served as NATO Commander KFOR in Pristina.

Dr Bryan Wells joined the UK Ministry of Defence in 1988. He served as Assistant Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Defence 1989-1992, and has held a range of other posts, including NATO and European Defence Policy 1997-1999, and Counter-Proliferation and Arms Control 2002-2008. During 1999-2002 he was on secondment to the Department of Justice. Dr Wells joined UK Defence Science and Technology in 2008. His responsibilities include the provision of strategic policy advice on all aspects of the Ministry’s science and technology programme.

 

More information:

• EDA Governance

The official endorsement of the military requirements by the EDA Steering Board in Capability Directors composition end of June, marks the start of the cyber ranges project. Its scope is to improve the usage of existing and future cyber ranges for conducting cyber defence training, exercises & testing. This should improve cyber resilience and raise the levels of awareness, insight and expertise of national and EU personnel.

The EU Cyber Security Strategy recognises cyber defence as one of its strategic priorities. The military requirements on cyber defence capabilities are inter alia to prepare for, prevent, detect, respond to, and recover from cyber-attacks. In June 2012, the EDA made an initial proposal for cooperative cyber defence training, exercises and testing under the Pooling & Sharing agenda.

Interoperability of cyber ranges will have a positive effect on cooperation among operational cyber defence systems, organisations and processes, thereby improving the effectiveness and efficiency of CSDP operations and multinational exercises.

The project will be carried out under the EU Pooling & Sharing agenda and aims at:

• Increasing availability of existing cyber range facilities;

• Increasing occupation rate and efficiency of existing cyber ranges and platforms;

• Mainstreaming and improving cyber defence training, exercises & testing at European level.

The military requirements approved now describe the way ahead through an EDA ad hoc project on cyber ranges in a spiral approach until 2018 (full operational capability). The concrete project arrangements are expected to be agreed by the working group by late 2015. The implementation and realisation phase is likely to start early 2016. 

 

More information:

• Cyber Defence project page

CTA International (CTAI), the joint venture between BAE Systems and Nexter Systems, has been awarded a £150 million contract from the UK’s Ministry of Defence for the full production scale output of the automatic cannon part of CTAS (Cased Telescoped Armament System) weapon

CTA International (CTAI), the joint venture between BAE Systems and Nexter Systems, has been awarded a £150 million contract from the UK’s Ministry of Defence for the full production scale output of the automatic cannon part of CTAS (Cased Telescoped Armament System) weapon

Russian 2S35 Koalitsiya-SV Self-Propelled Howitzer

Public hearing "Arms export controls"
Location : Altiero Spinelli, room A1E-2
Programme
Programme
Poster
Poster
Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

The Br

Defence IQ recently attended a conference in London hosted by Oceans Beyond Piracy (OBP), a project undertaken by the One Earth Future Foundation in an effort to mobilise action against global maritime piracy with the input of stakeholders, government and militaries, public and private

The Ministry of Defence is pleased to announce it has taken delivery of its third A400M Atlas aircraft, which has flown to the UK. The next-generation transport aircraft took off from the assembly plant in Seville, Spain and landed at its new home at RAF Brize Norto

Belarusian T38 Stilet Short-Range Air Defense Missile System

Graphene is a new material with a wide range of extraordinary properties (lightweight, high strength, thermal and electrical conductivity, etc.). It is widely expected to lead to new and improved applications for defence. On 2 June, 25 experts from Ministries of Defence, European entities, industry and academia participated in an EDA workshop to discuss current and future areas of application of graphene in defence at the Swedish Defence Research Agency FOI in Linköping.

Graphene has a wide number of potential applications interesting for defence such as advance camouflage systems and lighter or stronger protections. The objective of the workshop was to gather experts in related fields to discuss possible future defence applications and areas of applicability of graphene technologies. The discussion was focused on how to enhance composites and coatings by including graphene and on its possible use in adaptive camouflage, due to its thermal and electrical conductivity properties, and protection systems, based on its strength and low weight.

The outcomes of the workshop will be further analysed to identify how graphene technology can support the EDA Capability Development Plan (CDP), taking into account the Materials & Structures CapTech Strategic Research Agenda (SRA), and if possible, to create a technology roadmap towards achieving the required maturity of graphene based applications for defence.

(c) Picture: SAAB Barracuda

More information

• For further information, please contact GEM1@eda.europa.eu.
• Capability Development Plan project page

 

The European Defence Agency (EDA) recently published two calls for tender from operation EUFOR ALTHEA on its Contractor Support to Operations (CSO) platform. The signature of the cooperation arrangement with the ATHENA mechanism in March 2015 provides new impetus for the usage of the CSO platform.

Procuring customised assets such as armored vehicles or specific services (e.g. air to ground surveillance) can be challenging especially on short notice. EDA assists EU military operations in fulfilling their complex goods or services needs through the CSO platform, a powerful tool of interaction. The CSO platform connects economic operators and EU-led operations by for example actively promoting business opportunities. Economic operators are invited to subscribe to the platform database to receive information on business opportunities advertised by governmental and institutional authorities.

Currently operation EUFOR ALTHEA is looking for the provision of jet fuel distribution services and food, water and catering supply. Full description of the contract notice can be found at http://cso.eda.europa.eu/Pages/BusinessOpportunities.aspx.

 

Support to operations

Since the creation of the European Defence Agency in 2004, support to the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) and to EU operations has been one of EDA's core missions. Several activities are now ongoing to develop the role of the Agency in support of CSDP military and civilian operations or missions as well as EU Battlegroups at the request of Member States.

Procurement of contracted solutions has become increasingly relevant for EU military operations not only to fill capability gaps in the force generation process, but also as a general planned support for ongoing operations.

The arrangement with ATHENA opens the option for the Athena Administrator or any Operation/Mission Commanders as Contracting Authorities to call upon EDA to provide, upon its expertise and available means and capabilities, technical and overall administrative support for procurement of infrastructure works, as well as a variety of services or supplies, through direct contracts or pre-mission solutions, e.g. through framework contracts.

The Agency plans to further upgrade the CSO platform to respond to new requirements and to turn the platform into an one-stop solution for procurement by operations. Regular updates for industry including a workshop are planned. 

(c) Picture: EUFOR ALTHEA/Herbert PENDL

More information:

• Support to operations project page
• News: "EDA signs cooperation arrangement with Athena" (2 March 2015)
• CSO platform (password required)

The MMP anti-armour missile system will replace current anti-tank systems of French Army (MBD

Russian UAZ Patriot Light Utility Vehicle

American MH-60R Seahawk Naval Anti-Submarine Warfare Helicopter