Editorial Comment - The Future of Training

Andy Fawkes, MS&T Editor

The simulation and training domainnever ceases to interest me with its synergy of people and technology, and itschallenges both enduring and emergent. It has a global community that for themost part shares its ideas and standards and looks to other sectors forinnovation. It is a serious endeavour but one that often has to compete withplatform and system priorities. So, at the start of the decade, what is thefuture of training and what are the challenges ahead?

Will we still need training in thefuture? Given the current conversations around automation and AI one mightthink we will not need humans at all. However, although we see strikingdevelopments in both civil and military domains, it will be a long time beforemachines can be as versatile and agile in thinking as humans. It is more likelythat the nature of military tasks will change and that there will be more humanand machine teaming, so there will continue to be a need for training for theforeseeable future.

What of the people we need totrain? It is generally perceived that the newer recruits have differentaspirations and learning styles to those of previous generations. Recruitmentand retention are significant issues in several nations so it is vital tounderstand what recruits are seeking from a military career, how they learnbest and how to maintain their motivation - excellent training, transferableskills and a working environment which supports diversity will becomeincreasingly important.

What of future training? What islikely to endure is the extraordinary depth and breadth of military trainingwith fighter pilots, tank maintainers, ships’ cooks and so forth. Environmentssuch as air, land and sea will continue but there are new frontiers such asspace and cyberspace. Training will need to reflect the complexity,sophistication and disorder of a dynamic operating environment with state andnon-state actors, peer and asymmetric threats, and the need to balance kineticand non-kinetic actions. The enemy will always have a say and training willneed to be agile to changing threats and the chaotic nature of warfare.

Cost and time are also importantdrivers. Training will need to be faster, carried out anywhere, anytime and atless cost. In addition to technologies like the cloud, 5G and XR, approaches totraining such as competence-based and gamification are likely to becomestandard with greater emphasis on tackling skill fade. The importance ofinstructors is unlikely to diminish; there may be less of them and AI may playa bigger role, but human interaction, storytelling and versatility will remainkey.

How will training be delivered? Aconsistent message from militaries around the world is the desire forinnovation and greater agility in training provision; research and procurement organisationswill need to adjust accordingly but it will be important to balance this desirewith the stability and security of long-term contracts.

Finally, when do we know we havetrained effectively? Training measurements are currently done using predominantlyqualitative methodology, but our ability to measure, analyse and store trainingdata may in time lead to the adoption of a more quantitative approach. Thiswill not only help in training design and optimisation but also provide betterevidence to the wider defence establishment to support investment in S&T.

The future of training looks as interesting and important as ever and the MS&T team will continue to strive to bring the military S&T community the latest news and developments to inspire and inform. It is a great honour to be MS&T’s Editor and I would like to thank Rick Adams, Editor Emeritus, and the Halldale team for their support for my first issue of MS&T. - Andy Fawkes, MS&T Editor

Published in MS&T issue 1/2020