Join us to explore the topic of 'The British Army as a learning organisation: the sources of military learning'
All are welcome to join this research seminar hosted by the KOL Group alongside speaker Dr. Tom Dyson, (Dept. of Politics, International Relations, and Philosophy at Royal Holloway) to explore the topic of 'The British Army as a learning organisation: the sources of military learning'.
To join the seminar, please click the Zoom link below:
https://zoom.us/j/91625001123?pwd=cnlaYVU3TStCcVo2TlR4emh1cXZkZz09
Meeting ID 916 2500 1123
Abstract
The 2016 Iraq Inquiry highlighted the damaging impact of the failure to learn from ongoing operations on British military performance. However, the Inquiry provided little detail about how these deficits in military learning might be remedied.
This presentation address this gap in understanding by exploring the ability of the British Army and Joint level to develop the organisational processes and activities which support effective learning at the individual, group and organisational levels.
Drawing upon original interview research, it examines the development of formal lessons-learned processes (LL) in the British armed forces during the post-Cold War era. The presentation explores the impact of LL on operational design, pre-deployment training, doctrine and officer education, with a focus on operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. It highlights that while the British Army established effective learning processes at the tactical level, LL at the higher-tactical and operational levels LL have been largely ineffective and remain a work in progress.
The presentation concludes by reflecting upon the variables which affect the emergence of effective learning processes within military organisations and examines directions for future research.
Speaker Bio
Tom Dyson is a Reader in International Relations at the Department of Politics, International Relations, and Philosophy at Royal Holloway College, University of London. His research interests lie in military innovation studies, British and German defence policy, the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy and NATO.
Tom is the author of four books: The Politics of German Defence and Security (2007); Neoclassical Realism and Defence Reform in post-Cold War Europe (2010), European Defence Cooperation in EU Law and IR Theory (2013, co-authored with Prof. Theodore Konstadinides), and Organisational Learning and the Modern Army (2019).
