WEBVTT 00:20.610 --> 00:22.666 Hello , my name is Kurt Taylor . I'm 00:22.666 --> 00:24.832 the commanding general of the National 00:24.832 --> 00:24.510 Training Center . I've had the 00:24.520 --> 00:26.520 incredible privilege to be here for 00:26.520 --> 00:29.110 three years . And on this episode of 00:29.120 --> 00:31.287 Tech talks , I wanted to take a minute 00:31.287 --> 00:33.509 to talk to you about what makes a great 00:33.509 --> 00:35.398 after action review . If you know 00:35.398 --> 00:37.453 anything about the National Training 00:37.453 --> 00:39.676 Center , we really value the quality of 00:39.676 --> 00:41.620 training that we get in good after 00:41.620 --> 00:43.842 action reviews in the last 28 rotations 00:43.842 --> 00:46.009 that I've done as the commander of the 00:46.009 --> 00:45.869 NTC . I've had an opportunity to see 00:45.880 --> 00:48.400 really great A RS and some pretty 00:48.409 --> 00:50.631 average A ARS . And I wanted to talk to 00:50.631 --> 00:52.742 you about the 10 principles that make 00:52.742 --> 00:54.853 an A ar great just based on what I've 00:54.853 --> 00:58.069 seen here at the NTC first and perhaps 00:58.080 --> 01:01.590 most important is effect . Cause teach , 01:01.919 --> 01:03.919 let me explain what I mean by those 01:03.919 --> 01:06.141 three words , when you're delivering an 01:06.141 --> 01:08.197 A ar to a unit that just conducted a 01:08.197 --> 01:10.197 very complex and ambiguous training 01:10.197 --> 01:12.419 event that has a lot of moving pieces . 01:12.419 --> 01:14.641 The temptation is to walk into the A ar 01:14.641 --> 01:16.752 and to solicit dialogue . You want to 01:16.752 --> 01:18.919 ask open ended questions about how the 01:18.919 --> 01:20.975 battle went . Generally , I've found 01:20.975 --> 01:23.197 that that's not very effective . What's 01:23.197 --> 01:25.252 much more effective is to start with 01:25.252 --> 01:27.419 what happened and to use your superior 01:27.419 --> 01:29.641 situational awareness that you got from 01:29.641 --> 01:29.519 all the resources we have here at the 01:29.529 --> 01:31.585 National Training Center or wherever 01:31.585 --> 01:33.807 you're training and define a common set 01:33.807 --> 01:35.918 of facts . So let's say we're doing a 01:35.918 --> 01:37.918 combined arms breach . So the first 01:37.918 --> 01:39.973 thing an OC would do is lay out some 01:39.973 --> 01:42.196 data about what exactly happened during 01:42.196 --> 01:44.362 that breach . Maybe it's the timing of 01:44.362 --> 01:43.750 certain events , maybe it's a casualty 01:43.760 --> 01:46.180 count , but let's get a common set of 01:46.190 --> 01:48.412 facts on the table . So there's a clear 01:48.412 --> 01:50.468 understanding of what happened so we 01:50.468 --> 01:52.246 can get past the debate of what 01:52.246 --> 01:54.579 actually took place . That's the effect . 01:54.579 --> 01:56.690 Then you move to the cause and that's 01:56.690 --> 01:56.419 where you open up to dialogue and you 01:56.430 --> 01:58.708 ask the question , why did this happen ? 01:58.708 --> 02:00.597 And you solicit from the audience 02:00.597 --> 02:03.459 insights , preferably from all across 02:03.470 --> 02:05.303 the audience , insights on why a 02:05.303 --> 02:07.414 particular event took place . Then as 02:07.414 --> 02:09.470 you take notes on that and you , you 02:09.470 --> 02:11.692 identify some salient points , then you 02:11.692 --> 02:13.914 move to teach quite often , you'll find 02:13.914 --> 02:15.859 the feedback , you get aligns with 02:15.859 --> 02:17.914 certain doctrinal principles that we 02:17.914 --> 02:20.137 have or there's publications within the 02:20.137 --> 02:22.137 army that talk about how to perform 02:22.137 --> 02:24.248 that particular task and that's where 02:24.248 --> 02:23.889 the great moment for a really effective . 02:23.940 --> 02:26.107 So after all that feedback has come up 02:26.107 --> 02:27.940 to say , you know , we have some 02:27.940 --> 02:30.162 doctrine for that and then show that on 02:30.162 --> 02:32.051 a slide or a publication and draw 02:32.051 --> 02:33.996 everybody back to our doctrine and 02:33.996 --> 02:35.884 principles . There are times when 02:35.884 --> 02:35.389 doctrine is not appropriate or it 02:35.399 --> 02:37.621 doesn't specifically cover the incident 02:37.621 --> 02:39.677 that you're talking about . And then 02:39.677 --> 02:39.600 you can use best practices that you've 02:39.610 --> 02:41.449 seen from previous units or even 02:41.460 --> 02:43.738 historical examples . Second principle , 02:43.839 --> 02:47.039 ask open ended questions a great after 02:47.050 --> 02:49.789 action review often can be framed 02:49.800 --> 02:53.270 around 8 to 10 really good open ended 02:53.279 --> 02:55.446 questions . And the best questions are 02:55.446 --> 02:57.501 the ones you asked to the guy or the 02:57.501 --> 02:59.390 gal in the back of the room , the 02:59.390 --> 03:01.612 person who may have the information and 03:01.612 --> 03:03.557 have the appropriate context , but 03:03.557 --> 03:05.612 their voice might not necessarily be 03:05.612 --> 03:05.354 heard by the leadership in the 03:05.365 --> 03:07.365 organization . So you ask that open 03:07.365 --> 03:09.664 ended question and you solicit dialogue 03:09.675 --> 03:11.619 and the the whole idea is to get a 03:11.619 --> 03:13.619 dialogue going between those at the 03:13.619 --> 03:15.842 bottom of the organization and those at 03:15.842 --> 03:15.675 the top of the organization . So they 03:15.684 --> 03:17.573 can create a shared understanding 03:17.573 --> 03:19.351 between the two of them . Third 03:19.351 --> 03:21.573 principle , avoid one on one dialogue . 03:21.573 --> 03:23.573 I've seen many after action reviews 03:23.573 --> 03:25.740 that devolve essentially into a debate 03:25.740 --> 03:27.684 or a discussion between the senior 03:27.684 --> 03:29.934 commander in the room and the OC . Now 03:29.945 --> 03:31.889 that can be useful for a couple of 03:31.889 --> 03:33.834 people , but generally most of the 03:33.834 --> 03:33.654 other participants begin to lose 03:33.664 --> 03:35.608 interest . So what you wanna do is 03:35.608 --> 03:37.720 expand the dialogue . There's a great 03:37.720 --> 03:39.942 technique on how to do that . Let's use 03:39.942 --> 03:42.108 a chair just like this . So you have a 03:42.108 --> 03:44.331 dialogue , you present some facts , you 03:44.331 --> 03:46.497 ask some open ended questions and then 03:46.497 --> 03:48.497 you sit out and that signals to the 03:48.497 --> 03:50.553 audience that you're there to listen 03:50.553 --> 03:52.720 and it's now their opportunity to talk 03:52.720 --> 03:54.886 and you take a marker out and you hold 03:54.886 --> 03:54.309 it in your hand . And then as the 03:54.320 --> 03:56.542 insights emerge , you already know that 03:56.542 --> 03:58.653 the three or four principles that you 03:58.653 --> 04:00.598 want to get out of this discussion 04:00.598 --> 04:00.529 because you watch the fight and you 04:00.539 --> 04:02.761 know what they need to learn . You just 04:02.761 --> 04:04.650 wait for those insights to emerge 04:04.650 --> 04:06.872 naturally or you solicit them by asking 04:06.872 --> 04:06.779 key people out of the audience that 04:06.789 --> 04:08.845 you've already identified . And then 04:08.845 --> 04:10.845 you just write them up on the white 04:10.845 --> 04:10.589 board and then the audience can kind of 04:10.600 --> 04:12.656 see that you're participating in the 04:12.656 --> 04:14.822 dialogue , but framing it and carrying 04:14.822 --> 04:16.933 it along now that only last so long . 04:16.933 --> 04:19.044 And then eventually you need to bring 04:19.044 --> 04:18.575 everybody back to topic , which brings 04:18.584 --> 04:20.806 me to my fourth principle . Use a white 04:20.806 --> 04:23.095 board . It's very easy with a tired 04:23.105 --> 04:25.272 formation in the course of an extended 04:25.272 --> 04:27.383 campaign for people to just vent into 04:27.383 --> 04:29.494 the open air and not be able to frame 04:29.494 --> 04:31.549 their comments in any coherent way . 04:31.549 --> 04:33.327 Using a whiteboard captures the 04:33.327 --> 04:35.438 insights from the audience . How many 04:35.438 --> 04:34.554 of those are the ones that you kind of 04:34.565 --> 04:36.621 solicited from them ? But it sums up 04:36.621 --> 04:38.732 your comments and gives you something 04:38.732 --> 04:40.621 to refer back to when the A ar is 04:40.621 --> 04:42.734 complete . Number five , enthusiasm , 04:42.899 --> 04:45.010 important people are tired and nobody 04:45.010 --> 04:46.955 wants to be lectured to . So being 04:46.955 --> 04:48.955 enthusiastic , changing the tone of 04:48.955 --> 04:51.119 your voice asking direct questions , 04:51.130 --> 04:53.779 injecting humor are all important ways 04:53.790 --> 04:56.260 to make an a a more lively and more 04:56.269 --> 04:58.269 interactive with the audience . The 04:58.269 --> 05:00.158 United States has a rich military 05:00.158 --> 05:02.519 history . And for just about every 05:02.529 --> 05:05.320 example that you can find in modern 05:05.329 --> 05:07.496 large scale combat training , there is 05:07.496 --> 05:09.551 a historical example that reasonably 05:09.551 --> 05:11.773 matches the point that you're trying to 05:11.773 --> 05:13.940 make . Use those examples , show young 05:13.940 --> 05:16.107 soldiers , young leaders how important 05:16.107 --> 05:18.107 these skills are to the survival of 05:18.107 --> 05:20.273 their formation . And if you just look 05:20.273 --> 05:22.385 at a little bit of military history , 05:22.385 --> 05:24.440 you can pull those examples and show 05:24.440 --> 05:26.607 them why our rich military history has 05:26.607 --> 05:26.225 so many lessons . It can inform the way 05:26.234 --> 05:28.401 we train today . Number seven , change 05:28.401 --> 05:30.456 up the voice , everybody's gonna get 05:30.456 --> 05:32.456 tired of hearing your voice after a 05:32.456 --> 05:32.375 certain amount of time , bring in other 05:32.385 --> 05:34.815 speakers , bring in A R clips , bring 05:34.825 --> 05:36.924 in video clips just to change the 05:36.934 --> 05:39.045 environment and keep people engaged . 05:39.339 --> 05:41.561 Number 81 of the most important pin the 05:41.561 --> 05:43.450 rows , you'll have a long list of 05:43.450 --> 05:45.672 things that the unit needs to improve . 05:45.672 --> 05:47.895 It's very important and generally grade 05:47.895 --> 05:50.117 A ARS have about 20 minutes at the very 05:50.117 --> 05:52.339 end . They cover this , that we pin the 05:52.339 --> 05:54.006 rows on who is going to fix a 05:54.006 --> 05:56.006 particular issue . And we allow the 05:56.006 --> 05:55.750 commander to prioritize of all the 05:55.760 --> 05:57.427 things that we've seen in the 05:57.427 --> 05:59.260 organization . What are the most 05:59.260 --> 06:01.427 important things that we have to fix ? 06:01.427 --> 06:03.427 You've got to sign that and use the 06:03.427 --> 06:05.427 white board so that you can lay out 06:05.427 --> 06:07.538 exactly what those key tasks are that 06:07.538 --> 06:09.649 the formation is going to take back . 06:09.649 --> 06:11.816 And there's a contract between you and 06:11.816 --> 06:11.684 the commander that these particular 06:11.695 --> 06:13.751 issues will be fixed in time for the 06:13.751 --> 06:15.806 next fight . Avoid the temptation to 06:15.806 --> 06:17.973 compare units at the National Training 06:17.973 --> 06:17.704 Center . We want everybody to get 06:17.714 --> 06:19.492 better and we avoid even in the 06:19.492 --> 06:21.547 positive sense comparing one unit to 06:21.547 --> 06:23.325 another so that we preserve the 06:23.325 --> 06:25.547 integrity of the training environment . 06:25.547 --> 06:25.214 And we just talk about what they do 06:25.225 --> 06:27.281 well and what they do poorly against 06:27.281 --> 06:29.392 the army standard and not against one 06:29.392 --> 06:31.503 another . Finally , the site that you 06:31.503 --> 06:33.614 select , who you choose to attend the 06:33.614 --> 06:35.725 time when you start and the time when 06:35.725 --> 06:37.836 you enter all hugely important . I've 06:37.836 --> 06:39.947 seen some great a ars that absolutely 06:39.947 --> 06:42.003 went off the rails because the wrong 06:42.003 --> 06:44.058 people were there or we didn't think 06:44.058 --> 06:46.281 through the location of the A ar site , 06:46.281 --> 06:45.679 we had a generator right next to it . 06:45.690 --> 06:47.857 Everybody was seated in the sun in the 06:47.857 --> 06:50.480 heat of the day or uh there was a whole 06:50.489 --> 06:52.656 litany of activity in and around the a 06:52.656 --> 06:54.822 ar site that detracted from some great 06:54.822 --> 06:56.878 training . So be disciplined in your 06:56.878 --> 06:59.100 site selection , be disciplined in your 06:59.100 --> 07:00.878 attendees and be disciplined in 07:00.878 --> 07:02.711 sticking to the time that you've 07:02.711 --> 07:04.933 appointed for the after action review . 07:04.933 --> 07:07.100 So what I've laid out here is 10 short 07:07.100 --> 07:09.267 principles that based on my experience 07:09.267 --> 07:11.489 define great after action reviews , our 07:11.489 --> 07:13.545 combat training centers are the best 07:13.545 --> 07:13.183 training environments in the world . 07:13.352 --> 07:15.519 Not because of the train , not because 07:15.519 --> 07:17.574 of the resources that we have here , 07:17.574 --> 07:19.796 but because we've made an investment in 07:19.796 --> 07:21.963 high quality after action reviews . If 07:21.963 --> 07:21.776 you're an OC at the National Training 07:21.786 --> 07:23.619 Center or at the Joint Readiness 07:23.619 --> 07:25.619 Training Center , you know that the 07:25.619 --> 07:27.730 most important product you provide as 07:27.730 --> 07:29.675 an OC is a high quality A R . So I 07:29.675 --> 07:31.619 encourage you to incorporate these 07:31.619 --> 07:33.508 principles into your after action 07:33.508 --> 07:35.564 reviews because they matter to the , 07:35.564 --> 07:37.786 the unit and they help make us a better 07:37.786 --> 07:39.897 army again . My name is Kurt Taylor . 07:39.897 --> 07:39.865 Thank you so much for being a part of 07:39.876 --> 07:43.026 this tech talk episode , Lead Train Win .