Competency-Based Training: Adapting to Warfighter Needs
Abstract
Historically USAF Combat Air Forces (CAF) aircrews have trained under an event-based system, maintaining Combat Mission Ready status by accomplishing specified numbers of sortie types and events during the annual training cycle. Advances in training analysis and design and performance measurement are enabling a revolution in training philosophy and a transition to a competency-based training methodology. Competency-based training places emphasis on the required proficiency rather than the number of times the mission has been performed. The transition requires answers to two basic but vital questions: "What do we measure and how do we measure it?" Air Combat Command (ACC) and the US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) have teamed to answer both questions. ACC's Flight Operations Division (ACC/DOT) and the AFRL Warfighter Readiness Research Division, pioneered work in Mission Essential Competencies (MECs -- Note that the phrase Mission Essential Competencies, and associated acronyms have been Service Marked.) that provided the "what" -- what knowledge and skills do operational aircrew require to succeed in a complex combat environment. MEC-based research syllabi and new performance oriented debriefing capabilities have produced dramatic increases in warfighter performance in very short periods of time and are key to answering the "how" question. The implementation of "what" and "how" result in training that is both adaptive to the immediate needs of the training audience and scalable in application from the individual to multi-team collective training. At the end of the day the CAF will season combat aviators quicker and be able to sustain higher levels of overall combat readiness.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 30, 2006
- Accession Number
- ADA469472
Entities
People
- Charles M. Colegrove
- Winston Bennett Jr.
Organizations
- Air Combat Command