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TRAINING TO FIGHT AND WIN:
TRAINING IN THE CANADIAN ARMY
COMMENTS AND COMMENTARY
“I don't have much to add other than to support the notion that the good officer is almost always a good teacher.”
“Your booklet was a superb read, packed with vital lessons for our future army Regular and Reserve!”
“This should be mandatory reading for anyone, anywhere before they plan and conduct training.”
“I believe that your booklet is essential to the proper conduct of training in the Army, and I applaud your initiative in producing it. As an overall comment the individual training of a soldier should ensure the ability to ‘march, dig and shoot.’ If these basics are mastered then the specialty training and collective training can he the complete focus of the commander's/CO's concentration.”
“I think this is the first `modern' look at training in the Canadian Army that I heard of for thirty years. Well done on tackling such a venture.”
“The most important challenge facing any peacetime army is to keep its warfighting capability alive - and this can only be accomplished through training, which, as General Beno so commendably demonstrates, is clearly an art to be studied in depth.”
“As the OC of a maintenance company in Calgary and later the CO of a service battalion in Germany, one of my most important responsibilities was the creation and implementation of my annual training plan. I'd like to think I did a pretty good job, but with the guidance laid down in this book of Ernie Beno, I know I could have done it better. Bob Baxter had it right; the CO of a service battalion is also its training officer first and foremost.”
“Training is the essential essence of successful soldiering. Axiomatically, then, it is the essential essence of winning war fighting - the fundamental purpose of any army. General Ernie Beno must be commended for his initiative in producing this seminal work which is the first comprehensive effort in almost three decades to articulate contemporary principles and practices for training the Canadian Army.”
“A commander's most important responsibility in peacetime is to deliver effective training to his subordinates. General Beno's precis offers simple, clear and relevant advice to accomplish this most important of missions.”
“As General Rad and others have said, training for war is the raison d'etre of a peacetime army and this is where we must focus our training programme content, our training standards and our training tempo. During my years at Suffield I had an opportunity to meet and discuss training with a number of senior officers of the British Army. All of them maintained commitment to the concept of training `high to operate low.' The other way around, as is so aptly pointed out in this booklet, is dangerous and wrong.”
“Thank you very much for asking my opinion to review and comment of `Training to Fight and Win: Training in the Canadian Army'. It may amuse you to know that I have a copy of your original booklet, and that it is located in the upper left hand drawer in my office. I am sure it will also interest you to note the remarkable similarities between 1 CMBG's Training Plan and the combined
arms training schedule that you have outlined. This is not a coincidence. My compliments for a job well done.”
“Army leaders train the Army in times of peace and command it in conflict. To facilitate. the former, Army leaders at all levels should read this common-sense training booklet, then put it in a handy pocket of their combats and keep it there as a constant reminder of the training requirements of our profession.”
“Attention to the training aspects of the army is most welcome from a Militia perspective. There has been little if any change since World War II. Educational methods, philosophy, and effectiveness in other areas of endeavour have progressed dramatically. The Canadian Navy and Air Force are “streets ahead” of the Army using simulation. Military forces are trainers and educators as a “sine qua non” to effectiveness. It's time that on the armoury floor training, computer based training (CBT) and modern training methodology, including simulation, be adopted.
“Certainly the Militia needs to “train to retrain” their officers, NCO's and good soldiers in order to achieve acceptable attrition rates and also to correct the criticism that cross training is a deficiency in regular force augmentation. In times of fiscal restraint we have to go to such methods to be cost effective and still achieve trained troops.”
“Training to Fight and Win will be a must-know and must-read for those in the Army who want to be knowledgeable about their craft. In war, platoon and section commanders have power over the lives of their troops. Junior leaders must make every effort to improve their military knowledge in all aspects, and by putting that knowledge into practice justify themselves as fit to be leaders in action. They do this through good training.”
“Training is much more than a process that adds to the skills of a soldier or unit. It is about improving the performance of an individual or a group, and hence increasing the unit's effectiveness. “Training to Fight and Win” systematically identifies the essential components soldiers and commanders at all levels will use to create operationally capable units. This booklet should be read widely throughout the Canadian Army. I encourage readers to highlight key ideas, thoughts, or lists, review them and discuss them, but then get out there and do something with them!”
“I enjoyed reading your booklet on training. On the subject of planning: If in doubt, allow more training for lower levels of command, rather than leaping into unit or formation exercises.”
“This booklet. is full of good, old-fashioned, common sense and lessons learned the hard way. When Canada has to mobilize our Army again, as it will, despite all the wishful thinking these days, it will be invaluable. It is a mark of BGen Beno's total dedication to the Army.”
“Your points are well taken, especially the training of commanders by having them take an active part in exercises rather than acting as Directing Staff. During the Second War there were a few Commanding Officers with a reputation as good trainers (good at the drills), and they were moved from unit to unit to bring them up to scratch. However, when commanding in action weren't able to cope with all the unexpected situations and had to be removed. The rule is something will go wrong, so the more one exercises with troops where one deals with the unexpected, the better one is prepared to react positively in war.”
“The main theme, as I see it, is that training is vitally important to our army and that to be effective it must be planned and executed in a deliberate and thoughtful way by commanding officers and commanders. If officers follow the guidance contained in this booklet they will achieve their training endeavours and their commands will be properly prepared to undertake operations.”
“I think that what you are doing is long: .over-due and further that you are the right person to compose an edict on training.”
“Over the twenty-five years when I was most closely associated with field operations I believe that there were only a relative handful of officers whom I would consider excellent trainers of units. Your training manual should be an initial step in redressing this matter.”
“I think that your paper is excellent, and the topic “TRAINING,” is bang on. In fact the paper covers all the right things and in the right detail. Personally, the best trainer I ever came across was Ian Fraser. Much of what he taught me I used later on as CO 1 RCHA.”
“There is definitely a need for a pamphlet or precis on the subject of training. There used to be a few good British pamphlets on specific aspects of training but, for the most part, one had to read autobiography or really good biography to find out what worked well in training in the past. Those who were fortunate enough to `grow up' under COs or OCs who were good at training had models to follow. Others were less fortunate. Your booklet will stimulate thought about training - and that should help fill some of the gaps.”
Copyright © Ernest B. Beno, OMM, CD Brigadier-General (Retired) Kingston, Ontario March 22. 1999
