Majors put to the test

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 9, Issue 431, 7 April 1992, Page 9

Majors put to the test

BY

JO

HOWIE

Seventeen majors finished a 12 week Grade Two Staff and Tactics course and had their final testing Board TEWT (tactical exercise without troops) on 29 March. The Grade Two course is run at the Tactical School for officers that have had about 12 years in the army. "This is one, if not the most important course officers will do in their careers, where they have the opportunity to both work with and be assessed alongside their peers," said the chief instructor, Major Ian Gordon. The aim of the course is to assess the students' ability to hold the Grade Two operational appointments. The objectives are to apply operational staff duties; to apply workable tactical plans; to develop operational logistic plans; to develop and apply military knowledge and to evaluate the influence of leadership on the conduct of military operations. Major Gordon said the training vehicle for the course is mid-intensity operations set in a conventional war environment. Seventeen students attended this course, including one Malaysian officer. "All officers must attend the course, no mat-

ter what their trade or assessed skills are and are assessed equally. This sees some service corps officers having to catch up on tactics but they generally make up for this during the staff phase. "Students are continuously assessed throughout the course and although learning takcs place, it is very much a testing course and is therefore very stressful". Brigadier Bestic said, the greatest problem the Army has is that candidates are not able to visualise the reality of a given situation because they no longer have the opportunity to exercise with larger armies on a regular basis. Brigadier Bestic was the Testing Board President. The purpose is to test the students knowledge of the thought process by combining the two conventional war problems. The student must be responsible for his own actions and this fits into the overall training theme of accountability. "But someone who realises he has made a gross error, has the opportunity to adjust his solution when he is confronted with the second problem provided it is within realistic margins and he will invariably incur some penalty," said Brigadier Bestic.