War and the army

A detailed Summary of War and the army

The Army visits this issue over and over again. What are the ingredients of a good commander; how do we train and ensure quality leadership; and how does a successful commander pass on his secrets of success to new commanders? The most able commanders are not necessarily the best instructors for soldiers about to take command because they may not know what made them successful and/or they may not be able to successfully communicate what they know.

As an evaluator of National Guard training, it is not only vital that I know the standards for the training, but I must also be able to communicate any teaching points that I wish to make. Being smart is not enough. I must be able to "facilitate" the unit, in their discussions, to talk about where they did well and where they need to make improvements. If I cannot help them get to that point, then the entire training exercise has been a waste.

This is why our training equally emphasizes knowledge of our craft and ability to conduct an "After Action Review (AAR)". The skill is worthless without the knowledge and vice versa. Knowledge can be learned, but skill is more difficult since there must be some present before it can be developed. Just like some people have "two left

feet" or are "all thumbs", some people are incapable of speaking before a group of people (generally seen as a trait that is necessary for effective teachers).

Stick that in your pipe and smoke it.

Developing ability is difficult and very time consuming. Vice President Al Gore is promising to put "100,000 new teachers in the classroom" (reminiscent of the "100,000 new cops in the street" program of a couple of years ago that failed to meet its target). Is he talking about 100,000 teachers above what the universities produce each year? If not, his promise is pointless. If so, will they be trained in four-year institutions? This will not help the "crisis" in our schools today.

My valued opinion on this subject is: Colleges and universities should be responsible for turning prospective teachers into subject-matter experts. Technique courses would also be advisable. The school corporation where that new teacher is hired should be responsible for developing them into effective teachers.

The rush to increase standards on teachers and students; and the rush to increase the number of teachers in our schools is going to produce conflicting criteria that will make the teaching profession more regulated and less attractive to perspective educators. This will effectively reduce the size of the teaching force and precipitate another crisis that will have to be 'solved' by more bureaucratic red-tape. The number of accredited schools will likely decrease while the number of unaccredited schools that train teachers will increase.

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Al Gore, National Guard, , Review AAR, Miller HBO, Howard Cosell, Summerall Arguably, Night Football, effective teachers, student teaching, 100000 teachers, two-year program, developing ability, ROBERT KECK, rush increase, help sell, ability conduct,

Approximate Word count = 1117
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History