REALISING NEW FIGHTING CONCEPTS

In the past, HQ Training & Doctrine Command (TRADOC) was geared mainly to conducting HQ exercises and writing of doctrine manuals. G6 Army, the Army's training department, was responsible for training governance and developing resources for training, and the National Service Affairs Department (NSAD) managed the flow of people, especially NSmen, through the training community.

"We did not always achieve synergy in our outcomes", said BG Lim.

The new structure of the Training Hub will, therefore, comprise HQ TRADOC, NSAD and the Training Policy and Development Office (TPDO, formerly G6-Army). Together with the various training institutes in the SAF, they will form the broader Army Training Community.

While these three agencies come together to form the Training Hub, both NSAD and TPDO will maintain affliations to the Human Resource Hub and Development Hub respectively. This is in line with the plan to reorganise the Army general staff into a more network-oriented organisation, where the work nature of all five hubs will be interdependent on one another.

Head NSAD COL Tung Yui Fai explained that the inclusion of NSAD in the Training Hub would bring about better NS management in the units, as training is the most significant touchpoint between NSmen and the Army.

Said COL Tung: "To ensure that the NSmen have a positive experience in not just administration but also in training, they have to be plugged into the most influential hub, which is the training hub."

NSAD's role in the Training Hub is to look at the issue of training from the perspective of NSmen. NSAD will then advise the various training institutes and training schools on the challenges NSmen face when they undergo their In-Camp Training (ICT).

"Once the institutes understand the requirements better, they can go about designing and managing the training to better effect," said COL Tung.

Keywords for success

The Army's transformation has presented new challenges and opportunities for the Training Hub and the wider training community. The training community has seen the formation of several training institute HQs over the past one year to unify active and NS training.

The Army has also strengthened its training development function with the setting up of a Training Science and Research Section and a Training Development Section under TPDO and the new Army Modelling and Simulation Branch under HQ TRADOC.

To prepare our people for the future, it is the Training Hub's continuing vision to produce a learning Army and thinking soldiers. Elaborating on what this vision entails, BG Lim said that the training community must produce people characterised by 3Es: "Every soldier a leader, Every leader a thinker, Every thinker a warrior."

"The Third-Generation Army needs people who excel in what they do, are able to take the initiative through a keen awareness of what is going on and possess a warrior spirit to overcome adversity," said BG Lim.

Two imperatives - training realism and training safety - guide this.

"Realistic training conveys the message that we are a professional Army, notwithstanding that we are mostly made up of citizens," said BG Lim, "When we are serious about our training, we engender confidence and commitment in our people."

While there is a strong emphasis in training safety as well, BG Lim added that nobody should ignore the risks created by turnover, complacency and the ill-informed drive towards realism without regard for safety.

The process of Training Transformation will be complex and will involve the unity of effort by every part of the community, but its ultimate goal is to transform the Army into one that will fight and operate as one cohesive force.

"To transform successfully, we will require the continued grooming of bold and innovative leaders who dare to try new ideas, yet founded upon a strong sense of mission, professional knowledge and values," said BG Lim.

It begins with the new Training Hub.

The main roles of the Training Hub are:

• Lead in creating and mobilising knowledge required for the Third-Generation Army.
• Strengthen integrated and combined arms training to exploit the strengths of the Army, Air Force and the Navy in land operations.
• Synergise the efforts of all Army Training Institutions, especially in the areas of Leadership and Learning.
• Grow the training resources required to train new Third-Generation competencies; expand the use of modelling and simulation.
• Provide regulars, NSFs and NSmen with a positive Army experience through the conduct of realistic and safe training.