| Client: U.S. Department of Defense' (DoD) Office of the Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness (OSD P&R) and the Joint Warfighting Center (JWFC) supporting both the Joint Assessment Enabling Capability (JAEC) and the Joint National Training Center (JNTC) Joint Management Offices. |
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Challenge:
As technology and our enemy evolves so must our military forces. To keep pace with these changes, the Department of Defense is embarking on a large-scale, multi-year effort to transform their training program. This Training Transformation (T2) is intended to mirror training to the way in which military operations are carried out: as joint, multi-agency efforts.
The challenge is to develop more accurate and insightful methods for measuring the effectiveness of joint education and training on performance of joint operations.
Objective:
Strengthen and broaden the focus of the current joint training system to increase the priority of joint training throughout DoD.
Analyze the various key DoD assessment and evaluation initiatives pertaining to joint training and their impact on operational assessments and force readiness.
Focus on how alternative technologies (e.g., games) can be used to provide interactive, low-cost solutions to training and provide a bridge between individual and collective training.
ThoughtLink Solution:
ThoughtLink contributed to the plans for the implementation of assessment and evaluation concepts for DoD's Training Transformation (T2) initiative. ThoughtLink assisted in the development of the T2 Implementation Plan and helped in the alignment of T2's collective training component (JNTC) and the assessment component (JAEC).
ThoughtLink conducted interviews and analysis to provide an overview of the current status of assessment programs and processes at the various combatant commands (COCOMs). In addition, ThoughtLink has assessed the current status of DoD's use of alternative technologies, how assessments can be conducted using alternative technologies, and how these technologies can be implemented to provide a bridge between individual and collective joint training.
Value Added:
ThoughtLink found that there are numerous assessment processes and systems; each potentially providing an important piece to the joint readiness assessment equation, however, little or no training assessment data or training lessons learned data reaches leadership. ThoughtLink outlined the need for a comprehensive, user-friendly, information system or systems to connect the assessment dots. Click here to view the presentation.
Additionally, the information collected demonstrated discrepancies in how joint training and readiness assessments are being conducted vs. how they are described in the Chairman's guidance, the T2 implementation plan, and other documents. In response to this finding, ThoughtLink outlined the need for an integrated, collaborative system developed with advanced technology that provides real-time, comprehensive data in an environment that allows DoD leadership to adapt quickly to evolving situations.
ThoughtLink concluded that an effective linkage between training and operational entities is essential to quickly turn requirements into capabilities. Read more.
