Point/Counterpoint: Are the Service Academies in Trouble?

[William F. Owen]

Purely in terms of instructor experience, maturity and training the Brit system (as I understand it) is way ahead of the Israelis (as I understand theirs).

Actually you do have a point, but it has to be asked how much of a problem it really is. For example, a lot of the gunnery instructors at the armour school are 19-year-old girls. The same is true of the Sniper instructors at the sniper School, and the parachute instructors at the airborne school. 19-year-old girls!!

OK, so how good or experienced do you have to be to teach either of those subjects, if the instructors have been selected from their ability to instruct them? In the IDF, the girls, pass on the basics, just as well as anyone can, and the men they are teaching then go off and gain the experience. None of the guys have a hang-up about women instructors, so it's simply not an issue.
Senior instructors, who train the instructors, tend to be long-service NCOs.

Tactical/operational training is done by officers.

I have known a good few very experienced soldiers who were very bad instructors. Experience generally informs practice, not teaching. "Them that can does. Them that can't, teach."

[JMA]

Actually you do have a point, but it has to be asked how much of a problem it really is. For example, a lot of the gunnery instructors at the armour school are 19-year-old girls. The same is true of the Sniper instructors at the sniper School, and the parachute instructors at the airborne school. 19-year-old girls!!

OK, so how good or experienced do you have to be to teach either of those subjects, if the instructors have been selected from their ability to instruct them? In the IDF, the girls, pass on the basics, just as well as anyone can, and the men they are teaching then go off and gain the experience. None of the guys have a hang-up about women instructors, so it's simply not an issue.
Senior instructors, who train the instructors, tend to be long-service NCOs.

Tactical/operational training is done by officers.

I have known a good few very experienced soldiers who were very bad instructors. Experience generally informs practice, not teaching. "Them that can does. Them that can't, teach."

In a second follow up reply I covered the Rhodesian approach to nation Service "leader" training.

I accept if there is a system whereby careful selection (like the Israeli Kaba for example) and an low instructor student ratio are achieved there is a lot you can do with talented people in a relatively short period of time.

I think it is intelligent to analyse each specific training subject and assess exactly who really needs to provide that instruction. Back then I would have loved to have a 19 year girl give me training on my personal weapon and I don't see it matters with para training or even dispatching. The thing is you don't necessarily free up "men" for active service by doing this as I noted a tendency for those maybe not best suited to active service tended to gravitate to training and peripheral jobs.

I do think that the student / instructor ratio is a critical success factor in just about all training.

[JMA]

Tactical/operational training is done by officers.

One needs to consider that.

Certainly tactical training for officers should be done by officers as it would relate to a unit and formation context. I would add officer courses to this.

I accept that on a Senior NCOs tactics course there should be a course officer who has a personal involvement in the training together with a core team of warrant officer instructors.

All other tactical training, being the "junior" tac course and all recruit training should IMHO be done by NCOs.