LEARNING BY DOING
I
n a transformation of network management training, the Project Manager Joint Tactical Networks (PM JTN) has adapted the concept
and practices of outcomes-based training and education (OBTE).
As a result, PM JTN, part of the Joint Tactical Networking Center (JTNC), has trained more than 100 operators since January 2013 in the Joint Tactical Radio System Enterprise Network Manager (JENM), a system that plans, configures and monitors Joint Tactical Radio System networks
Radio Waveform and the Wideband Networking Waveform.
I was introduced to OBTE—a train- ing methodology based on outcomes or results versus a standard one-size- fits-all solution to the problem—while instructing at the United States Military Academy at West Point.
OBTE standardizes by outcomes rather than by
inputs or processes. Army, we know inputs as In the teaching-to-
time rather than teaching-to-standard, rehearsing course material until you have it memorized, without authorization to say or do anything other than what is in the script. We know processes as the one and only way of getting to result, accom- panied by detailed sequential how to accomplish a task.
steps on
Te goal of OBTE methodology is to make the training environment more realistic and demanding, empowering students to exercise individual initiative, hone individual leadership skills and take responsibility for their actions.
When explaining outcomes-based training, I like to compare it to under- standing and learning golf. Te first step is to explain the theory, physics and
18 Army AL&T Magazine
FIGURE 1
that use the Soldier UTR CHECKLIST- GUIDED INSTRUCTIONS
When Soldiers receive an OPORD or FRAGO, a unit task reorganization (UTR) may be in order. However, it would be next to impossible to build step-by-step instructions for every possible scenario in a UTR. Soldiers must be able to solve the problem on their own. OBTE aims to give them the skills and abilities to do that with JENM. A checklist serves as a guide but does not tell Soldiers how to solve the problem. (SOURCE: PM JTN)
importance of ball
trajectory and how
club angles affect the flight (distance and angle) of the ball. Te next step is to go to the driving range to hit several buckets of balls with different clubs and thus learn how each club angle affects the flight of the ball. Tis is learning by doing.
Te final step is to use the acquired
knowledge of golf clubs and golf ball trajectory on the course. It is now up to the new golfer to pick the correct club and adapt to the changing environment, as there is no caddy (i.e., instructor) providing guidance on which club to use.
JENM TRAINING, OBTE-STYLE During my tenure at West Point, I learned the process of converting instruction in basic military
skills marksmanship, etc.) into OBTE events.
However, applying OBTE methodology to the existing JENM software application training was slightly more complicated. I
July–September 2013
have my mentor and West Point’s OBTE subject-matter expert, retired Army COL Casey Haskins, to thank for providing guidance on how to modernize the JENM training support package using OBTE. Haskins reminded me to trust in my trainer’s expertise; ensure that the instruc- tors understood how to build flexibility into their classrooms; insert problems for students to solve; and clearly define the outcomes I was trying to obtain.
Now that I understood how to improve the JENM training, the next goal was to teach the training team the concepts and processes of outcomes-based instruction, and to determine how best to incor- porate OBTE into the JENM training course material.
(land navigation,
One of the more critical topics covered in our train-the-trainer event was how to simultaneously teach the student who is ahead of the class while focusing on the main body of students who were on track,
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