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They have to be well educated and adequately trained home and abroad in modern warfare technology and techniques of battle as well as be masters Of the equipment that they have to use. That is why it is Very important for the officers of Bangladesh Army to participate in different kind of foreign coo rises. 2. Every year a lot of officers from Bangladesh Army are going to different countries to get trained and be more professional. In this process of learning our officers also takes part in the courses which is offered by Canadian Government.
We take part in two different courses in Canada one is CSS and another one is COCA. I was fortunate enough to take part in the CSS-1 8, Canada from Bangladesh army where there were 28 officers from 24 different nations. This was indeed my first foreign course. In this course up to this time total 1 5 officers from Bangladesh Army took part and all of them have successfully completed it. This course provides an unique opportunity to go one more time as guest Directing Staff, and many of our officers got this opportunity.
From the commencement of this course this was the eighteenth one. Since 2004 total 527 officers from more than 64 nations have completed this course. . The CSS was a course of 15 week duration which started from 05 September completed on 13 December 2013. This course takes place in Land forces Atlantic Area Training Centre in short Camp Leaderless which is located in the Nova Scotia province of Canada. This course takes place twice a year, in spring and fall. This is a very unique course where an officer learns to work effectively in a multinational environment.
Officers from all continent who all are from different culture, different religion and different language comes together and good friend to each other. Everyone learns to respect each there cultural and social values and share own nations glory and history. 4. Canada is one of the leading Nation in Military power. In last century by participating in different significant war as, World War l, World War II and Korean War Canadian Forces have evolved a very effective doctrine. Even today we can mark the presence of Canadian Force in ongoing all the conflict worldwide ii: Afghanistan War, Iraq War.
Participating in a course with Canadian Army gives us the opportunity to compare our training system with them and bring positive changes in our training system and doctrine. In this paper I will try to draw some comparison and highlight some events which I felt can be very useful for us. 5. This paper makes an endeavor to give a brief idea about the CSS that is conducted by Canadian Army, highlight their training system. The packages those are covered by the institution and draw a comparison with our CSS which is conducted in IS&T. Finally provide some recommendation which can be implemented to improve our training system.
Aim 6. The Aim fifths paper is to give a brief idea about the CSS that is conducted by Canadian Army, draw a comparison with the CSS that we induct at home and provide some recommendation which can be implemented to improve our training system in IS&T. Description of ALFA ETC Camp Leaderless 7. Land Force Atlantic Area Training Centre Leaderless (also ALFA ETC Leaderless) is a training facility for 5th Canadian Division of the Canadian Army, where the CSS course is conducted. It is located in Kings County, Nova Scotia. ALFA ETC Leaderless is located 0. 5 nautical miles (0. 93 km; 0. 8 mi) northwest of Gentile on a well-drained sandy plateau along the north side of the Cornwallis River. Relatively few military personnel are taxation at the training centre as it serves primarily for training regular force and Primary Reserve units of the Canadian Army’s 5th Canadian Division. The training centre also conducts year round courses for Regular Force personnel. The training facility conducts CSS twice in every year, Spring -? Feb. to June; Fall – Seep to DCE; Background History of Camp Leaderless 8. Camp Leaderless is very renowned for its contribution in both first and Second World War.
In the beginning during the 1 sass and the lead up to the Boer War, the British Army, which was responsible for Canada’s defended until 1906, established Military Camp Leaderless as a training area on land in the western part of Kings County. Camp Leaderless was intended to train Canadian Militia units from Nova Scotia. It received its name in honor of Leaderless in Hampshire, United Kingdom, the site of the home of the British Army. 9. Camp Leaderless saw extensive use during the First World War with in excess of 7,000 soldiers being trained for the infantry at any particular time.
Given its proximity to Halifax which became a major troop shipment port, the camp underwent significant expansion during the Second World War with numerous new buildings constructed between 1939 and 1943. The facility experienced some of its most demanding training toward the end of the war as the 14 AITCH was tasked with preparing troops for Operation Downfall, the invasion of Japan. Following the war, Camp Leaderless went into decline when compared to its war-time activity; however its well-constructed Second World War-era facilities were maintained given the tensions of the Cold War.
Selection Procedure and Requirements 10. This course aims at training junior to medieval Lieutenant or Captains in he Army, Navy, marines or Air Force who will, in the near future, be employed as a junior level staff officer at the unit or formation headquarters; or about to assume the position of commander or second in command of a combat arms/combat support arms company level sub unit. The course demands possession of a basic knowledge of Microsoft Office (Powering, word, Excel). It also recommends that the participants should be in possession of a good English Language Profile.
TDMA gives vacancy to different allied countries and the country selects their candidate by their own system. For Bangladesh Army, Military Training Directorate of Army Headquarters selects the eligible candidates by written exam and interview as per the requirement. Course Mandate and Training Curriculum 1 1 . The aim of CSS in Canada is to train junior officers from TDMA sponsored countries at the unit / sub-unit level, in a multinational environment, in support of command and staff functions, establishing the foundation for their subsequent professional development.
CSS mandate and all activities are strategically relevant to Canada in establishing bilateral relations with member states. Countries participating in CSS are more likely to cooperate with the Canadian Forces by giving them access to their country and their military forces. CSS training is beneficial to the member state through specific capability building initiatives; member countries develop skill in the areas of military training, peace support operation, communication and staff skills. Conduct of the Course 12.
The course was a very well designed one where the students had adequate time for apprehension of imparted lessons. The 1 5 weeks course was comprised of two parts with the first six weeks focused on immunization skill and problem solving. The next five weeks focused on the application of the skills and techniques to plan and coordinate mechanized tactical operations up to Combat Team level within a combined arms environment. Some more highlight about both the segment is given bellow: a. Communication and Problem Solving.
In Weeks 1 to 5 students learn about the communication skill thereby they become skilled staff for any military installation. In this part of the course the students learn to develop basic writing skills, develop basic speaking skills, and develop Professional Military Studies and Leadership skills: (Leader Alternate Dispute Resolution and CB Ethical Dilemma Resolution Approaches). They are made very well conversant about developing basic problem solving skills, develop time planning skills. All the students are also taught about the M of I and Training Development. . Mechanized Tactical Operation. In the second half of the course in Weeks 6 to 14 students comes to know about the Mechanized tactical operations. We learnt about the doctrine and organizational knowledge of 4 Royal Canadian Regiment and their en forces. The participant officers from other environments learn the skill and knowledge needed to operate effectively within or in support of combat team operations. We learnt about the doctrinal concepts, all major operation the command post exercise. Other Important Packages 13. There than the main TV&’0 parts of the course the remaining periods of the training are focused on topics concerning very important aspects of military training which is not taught in our country. Those Will surely have a special impact on our deployment in home and abroad in multinational environment. The packages that we learnt are given bellow: a. Laws of Armed Conflict. B. Peace Support Operation. C. Child Soldier Initiative. D. Leadership Alternative Dispute Resolution. E. Orientation with Canadian Armed Forces. F.
Orientation with Canadian Government and Policing System. G. Media Training. Educational Visit in Different Site 14. We were very lucky to visit many important installations of Canadian Armed forces. We had visit to the Canadian Air force base in Goose Bay, Royal Canadian Naval Base at Halifax and Canadian Army Combat Training centre in Gage town. Those visits were very educative as well as a lot entertaining. Assessment System of the Course 1 5. We had Directing Staffs from different allied countries and all of them completed the same course beforehand.
The assessment system used during the course was very unique, we were not graded in the traditional manner nor, we were assessed in comparison to our fellow students. Our performance was assessed on every individual progress using the following criteria: a. Knowledge. The individual student understands definitions and basic concepts and relates the knowledge to the job/task requirements; and b. He/ She Applies the concept without ambiguities in the product. The product has met the training objective and is deemed to be effective.
Comparison between CSS in Bangladesh and CSS Canada 16. Some of the events we have in common and some new. In the following paragraphs will try to dram some comparison with CSS Canada and our AS: a. Communication Package. We do not have a separate communication package in our CSS. In this part a student learn methodically how to write and effectively communicate. Here every student gets the academic training for developing writing skill where they follow the tongue and quill version 2004 and NATO writing manual AD 35-4. . Work load of the students.
The workload of the students are so well designed that a participant student does not feel too much pressure of studies and assignments. Learning is mostly practical exercise oriented. On the contrary our CSS in home is very compact and hard pressed. Time for assimilation is very less that’s why the utility of teachings does not stay in the long run. C. Assessment System. In CSS Canada the unique assessment system does not have an individual standing and position. Every student was assessed in comparison to our fellow students and performance was assessed on every individual progress.
So there was no rat race among the students. Our conventional grading system makes the environment unhealthy and puts all the students is a completion where the bondage and cooperation come at question. D. Practical oriented and self -educative Training. Most of the lessons were relating to a problem solving method. A situation was narrated and the students were asked to bring out the solution. In this course the students does everything by themselves and the DSL are only there to guide. Students are encouraged in self-discovery rather than spoon feeding.
In our entry we have a tendency of spoon feeding and provide too much guidance which is detrimental in the long run to learn things and make its proper application. As we know the famous saying about this: “Spoon feeding in the long run teaches us nothing but the shape of the spoon. ” E. M. Forester e. Mechanized Infantry Training. With the change of the war equipment and technology it’s important to know about the mechanized warfare. In this course we learnt details about the mechanized infantry training. This concept is new in our country and we should introduce some package in our CSS. . Estimate Vs. Appreciation.
In Canadian Army they write estimate for operational planning where we make Appreciation. The better part of estimate is that it encompasses the products of PIP in the Ground and weather part which make the whole process more realistic. In estimate most of the things are written in matrix form which makes things easy to assimilate. Writing the COCA is much realistic and complete in estimate. As we are doing PIP so we can switch to estimate from appreciation. G. Unique aspects of Military Training. Every classroom had smart board and all the assignments were through the LANA service that means paperless. O sharing data was just a click away. Most of the exams were open book so there was very less pressure of memorizing things. When a student do not spend more time in memorizing lessons he can more concentrate on the creative part and perform better. Situation related training and problem solving trainings were so practical that any student can learn the lesson easily. Recommendation 17. The following points may be recommended from the perspective of the experience in CSS Canada to implement into IS in particularly in our CSS. A communication package for 3 weeks duration can be introduced to teach the students about the academic way of writing and presentation. B. Workload of the students should be reduced to make the course more balanced and learning friendly. C. A board of officer can be formed at ART DOC and study the feasibility of introducing Estimate instead of Appreciation, which will give everyone clear idea about PIP method as well. D. As we have a lot of deployment in UN and we deal with child soldiers there so a package of 1 week duration can be included within the syllabus of CSS in IS. e.
Aspects of laws of armed conflict should be introduced in CSS for duration of one week it will help them to work in a multinational environment. F. In all major operations lessons related to mechanized Infantry Training should be thoroughly studied at ORATOR and included in our doctrine or We should introduced a separate course as Combat Team Course. G. A board of officer can be formed at ART DOC to review our present grading system. This Grading system can be changed from individual positions to a generalized one where the focus will be the individual development as we saw in Canada. . We should more focus on self-discovery rather than spoon feeding system. This teaching method can be reviewed in ART DOC and We should encourage the students to be more creative. I. Duration of the course can be increased to make the study load easier for our CSS. J. We can establish a LANA service in Tactics wing and provide all the students with one laptop from IS fund and make the course paperless. It will save time and resources. Conclusion 18. Camp Leaderless is a very well renowned training facility which has played a very vital role in both the World War.
The training system of the camp is very odder and scientific. This camp has provided training to officers from 68 countries. The CSS family is dispersed worldwide. The whole training facility is based on a Local Area Network system which is also connected with the internet service which makes all correspondence paperless. We can make such unique training environment for our students in IS. We can incorporate the aspects of mechanized infantry training in our doctrine as we are going to be more mechanized as per Forces Goal 2030. 19.
With the changing Education system all over the country we must bring costive changes to our teaching methods also. Our new national education system is now more focused on the creativity and self-discovery, so in the army also we should put more emphasis on creativity. We should put less focus on the memorizing and vomiting in the exam hall rather we should encourage our students to be more creative. If we have officers who can think positive and creative our Army will reach to its desired goal very soon. With the astounding development of science and technological advancement today we have to also update ourselves.
Our officers can learn maximum from such litigation environment where they come across with Army officers of many countries. The new information technologies, a complete evolution in the communications media and the massive advent of mechanization into Army will constitute confidence in the members and make a professional Army 20. There are many different aspects of training in CSS in Canada which covers a big spectrum, so among them the one will be suitable for us we can adopt. In future, IS may incorporate the training systems that I have mentioned above will bring positive change in our training system.
The experience of the Bangladesh officers who all have completed this course may be shared to identify the areas of improvement. Thus School of infantry and Tactics and overall our Army will be benefited.