"Training" and "Educating" Marine Corps Officers for the Future
Abstract
Civilian educational theorists have debated the comparative concepts of "training" and "education" for years. The Marine Corps formally distinguishes between training and education. Training emphasizes learning to perform tasks to produce skill development and proficiency. Education, on the other hand, focuses on developing mental processes to produce a creative and analytical mind. Training and education can be thought of as a spectrum, overlapping in the middle and diverging greatly at the extremes. Traditionally, the military focus has generally been on the training end of the spectrum. But following World War II, a trend toward education began, especially for officers. Today, because of a renaissance in the study of military history and strategy -- and Congressional reform after a string of military failures -- officer training has become overshadowed by education. In the Marine Corps a clear trend of educational emphasis has developed. This trend could result in a highly educated, but inadequately trained officer corps. This study traces the evolution of the training-education focus in officer development; analyzes the current Marine Corps system for training and educating its officers; and makes recommendations to improve that system to better meet the challenges and requirements of the future.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 06, 1992
- Accession Number
- ADA249432
Entities
People
- Thomas E. Sheets
Organizations
- United States Army War College