Quote Originally Posted by Jedburgh
The 2 doesn't decide all by himself what is important, in a type of intel vacuum. If that's happening in any unit, its a serious problem. Also, I didn't mean to imply that you should only rely on the 2. Just that it is the 2's job to provide such updates. Just as it is the professional responsibility of every leader, NCO or officer, to seek out what resources they can on their own to help them execute more effectively in their lane. The two aspects should balance - but neither is sufficient as a stand-alone prep for operational deployment. And leadership failures can occur on both sides of that equation; first, when the command does not ensure that adequate current info is being disseminated down and second; when leaders at any level assume that what they are being fed is sufficient and they don't need to exert themselves to fill it out with anything more.

Of course, best case scenario is that leaders at most levels within a unit are able to establish direct connection with counterparts in theater who they are rotating in to replace, to truly get it "from the horse's mouth". Unfortunately, that rarely occurs - for a wide variety of reasons. However, the secure professional forums, we've been discussing, AKO, BCKS, WU, NCO.net, Stryker.net, PlatoonLeader.net etc. allow us to come close to this ideal - if only more would take advantage of these resources.

For Slapout9's benefit, the same issue exists within the LE community - there is tremendous real-time info-sharing potential within the RISS system, but the regional systems differ so much (i.e. WSIN from MOCIC) that its effectiveness is problematic, even if access and usage was universal for the state and local LE community - which is a loooong way from happening. Secure forums such as CYBERCOP and FPS portal also have great potential - but are little used.
I concur that there needs to be a balance. However, I found that SIPR access was more readily available and reliable than NIPR during my time in Iraq, and so learning the SIPR resources are just as important if not more important when it comes to being in theater. I don't want him walking away thinking that SIPR is just a tool for the S-2 Shop and Command, which is why I haven't let up on the point. This is what Fort Lewis has done, and while this article doesn't mention it, a newsletter I received from the SCLL talked about how there are available SIPR terminals for anybody on the access roster, allowing team leaders, squad leaders, platoon leaders, etc. to get direct access to the unfiltered information. This is a huge leap forward.

http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.o...kerBrigade.htm

The Army, as the other services, has institutionalized the process of collecting and distributing “lessons learned” from the battlefield, but the information often does not flow to combat units quickly enough to let them adjust their own tactics before they deploy.

Among the Army units that have rotated in and out of Iraq during the past three years, the Stryker brigades appear to have perfected the lessons-learned drill by setting up a high-tech communications center at Fort Lewis, Wash., where senior leaders and junior commanders receive day-to-day feedback from deployed troops. These detailed, unfiltered reports shape their training and preparation for combat. In the process, they also have managed to stir apprehension among some Army officials who worry that the Stryker’s way of doing business sets it too far apart from the mainstream.