Table of Contents
Training Management
In February of 2002, joint military planners developed an operations plan that would use U.S. and coalition troops to surround and constrict the movement of enemy al Qaeda fighters in or out of the Shah Ikot Valley of Afghanistan. Intelligence suggested that these fighters would flee into the mountain tunnels for cover, where the coalition forces could squeeze in and destroy them. This constrictor-like tactic earned the plan the name: Operation Anaconda. Unfortunately, multiple intelligence and communications failures at the strategic level led to joint forces engaging with a much larger, better trained, and better equipped enemy than they were prepared to fight. But the resilient and agile U.S. troops were successful in regaining the advantage and winning the battle. Leaders can attribute a great part of the success of Operation Anaconda to the tactical operators on the ground and their ability to adapt to the rapidly shifting conditions. This proves a critical lesson for Army leaders: mission success requires commanders to have a successful unit training management program, and to enforce the Army’s fundamental principles of training and leader development.
The Commander’s Role in Unit Training Management
Commanders plan their units’ collective training by considering the expected mission and then limiting the unit’s training to the number and type of tasks that will be critical for mission success. The Army designs units with a doctrinal framework of essential skills, a mission-essential task list (METL), at which they must become proficient to serve the overall mission (Department of the Army [HQDA], 2019). METL must therefore become the commander’s focus for all training execution and assessment. Training to the METL also allows units to become proactive, versatile, and adaptive to changing situations in the battlespace. Commanders develop their unit training management program, guided by this list, and rooted in the Army principles of training management.
The Principles of Training Management
The fundamental principles of training management defined in Army Doctrine Publication (ADP) 7-0 are train to standard, train as you will fight, train to sustain, and train to maintain (HQDA, 2019). Train to standard requires units to train until they can routinely achieve the established doctrinal standard for each individual or collective task. Train as you will fight compels units to train under conditions as close to the expected operational environment (OE) for the mission as possible.
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Training to sustain increases a unit’s operational endurance and prepares them to remain resilient in an expected OE. Units also conduct regular maintenance to ensure equipment is serviceable and available for the further conduct of training and for mission accomplishment (HQDA, 2019). This is the central meaning behind the train to maintain principle. In the case of Operation Anaconda, the original plan did not survive initial contact with the enemy. U.S. troops found themselves facing an enemy that was much more resolute and capable than expected (Fleri et al, 2003). It was the functional and valuable experience these Soldiers gained by drilling in their fundamental collective, individual, and battle-focused tasks which allowed them to regain the initiative and defeat the adversary.
Battle-focused Training
U.S. war correspondent, Sean Naylor, reporting for the Army Times in Afghanistan and embedded with Joint Special Operations Task Force (JSOTF) DAGGER during their involvement in Operation Anaconda, asserts the importance of battle-focused training:
Combat-focused training saves lives. This too is conventional wisdom, but lots of commanders still do not make this their focus in garrison. Maybe this is changing with Iraq. Training made a big difference in [Operation Anaconda]. A number of guys said their training just kicked in when the fight started. The troops won’t let you down. There was a lot of hand-wringing at the turn of the century about the World War II greatest generation. Implicit was an idea that U.S. troops today are different. This has proven to be wrong. Every day soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan show themselves to be anyone’s equal (Naylor, 2006).
Of the major battle in Operation Anaconda that took place in the Shah Ikot Valley between 2 and 14 March 2002, Fleri et al (2003) write, “at every level, U.S. and coalition personnel quickly overcame their surprise and responded effectively to the new enemy challenge. Trying to hold terrain and stand-up to U.S. and coalition forces proved to be a very bad choice by the enemy…” Clearly, commanders and leaders closer to the fight had well-prepared their units and Soldiers to perform critical and adaptive warfighting tasks through their effective training management before the operation began.
The Army’s Leader Development Model
Commanders also apply the principles of leader development in planning, preparing, executing, and assessing unit training. The principles of leader development outlined in Field Manual (FM) 6-22, describe goals for what Army leaders must be developed to do: leading by example, developing subordinates, creating a positive environment for learning, exercising the art and science of mission command, adaptive performance, critical and creative thinking, and knowing subordinates and their families (Department of the Army [HQDA], 2015). These leader development principles compliment the principles of training management, as together they outline the full range of competencies needed to produce agile, adaptive leaders, Soldiers, and units (HQDA, 2015).
Reflective of the training management model, the leader development principles incorporate similar values and ideals and reinforce the idea that one of the greatest responsibilities a leader assumes is to train Soldiers and other leaders according to the fundamental principles of training. The tactical-level leaders of Operation Anaconda exemplified all the principles of leader development. But most importantly, they were able to remain resilient and adaptive; effectively combining the principle of training to sustain with the leader development imperative to understand the art and science of mission command, and to exercise both with critical and creative thinking.
Conclusion
As the Army of the 21st Century prepares and plans for future engagements the organization cannot forget the importance of successful training management programs, rooted deeply in the foundations of doctrine. The fundamental responsibility for commanders and leaders to integrate training management into the culture and to ensure proper development of new leaders will mean these principles still are part of the fabric of the service long after they are gone. Every Army leader should foster these training and development principles, as a key part of leadership is to influence others with the goal of improving the organization. Operation Anaconda proves that to defeat the enemy decisively on the battlefield, the Army relies on effective unit training management, battle-focused training, and the leader development model. It will always be leaders and warfighters with a commitment to these doctrinal principles that will ensure mission success in any battle.
References
- Fleri, E., Howard, E., Hukill, J., & Searle, T. R. (2003). Operation Anaconda Case Study. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: College of Aerospace Doctrine, Research and Education.
- Headquarters, Department of the Army (HQDA). (2015). Leader development (FM 6-22).
- Headquarters, Department of the Army (HQDA). (2019). Training. (ADP 7-0).
- Naylor, S. (2006). Not a good day to die: the untold story of Operation Anaconda. London: Penguin.
