Officer Education Reforms: The Need for Increased Technical Competency

Abstract

Abstract : The new security environment facing the U.S. Armed Forces that spans the full-spectrum of military conflict together with the military's relentless quest for high technology solutions to challenges in modern warfare requires new leader skills. Among these are multidimensional cognitive skills, new technical-tactical skills, and an increased awareness of the science that enables advanced technology weapon systems and shapes the modern battlefield. Today there exists a new relationship between the officer corps and technology. As a result, the current officer education system needs to be reformed to incorporate more of the underlying science that enables advanced technological systems and shapes the modern military landscape. This research begins with a historical review of military innovation and the relationship to officer education and progresses to include a survey of applicable teaching and learning theories, methodologies, and taxonomies. Five broad categories of technical officer competencies were identified and include information technology and communication systems, the science associated with sensor systems, fundamentals of chemistry, biotechnology, and nuclear energy and radiation, military physics and engineering, and quantitative and analytic skills. The need for officer education reform was confirmed through an analysis of each of the Service's PME systems to determine the extent of science and technology coverage in the present curricula. This analysis also included Joint Staff policy relating to technical learning objectives and the proportion of officers attending each of the PME institutions. Finally, a prototype educational framework was developed that increases officer technical competency by reforming the existing officer PME system through the introduction of technical short-courses.