junior leader training South africa

6 Pages·2021·0.11 MB·English

Junior Leader Training at the Army
Gymnasium

By leon Engelbrecht

African Armed Forces - November 1998

The Army Gymnasium (Army Gym) at Heidelberg in southern Gauteng, is the elite training institution
of the South African Army. It is presently tasked with providing junior leader (JL) training to qualified
students of the SA Army The Gymnasium was reestablished in its present incarnation in 1994. It is now
responsible for training male officers and non-commissioned officers (NC0s) in all sixteen career Corps
of the Army.

Training at Heidelberg

Students arriving at the Army Gym in January next year will be following a different training
programme than that used up to now. Junior leader training will be more intense and of longer duration
than in the past. The disruptive two-month-plus corps training phase that took students to their
respective Corps schools and away from the Army Gym has been done away with. Students will now
spend the entire train- ing year at Heidelberg and do their Corps-related training afterwards.

To qualify for training at the Army Gym, students have to satisfy seven require- ments: they must have
completed their secondary education (high school); should preferably be single (with no dependants);
not older than 23 years of age; multilingual with English as one language; medically fit on reporting;
South African; and may not have crirni- nal records.

The new training programme will last 49 of the calendar year's 52 weeks. The first two weeks are to be
devoted to induction and includes determining which students need academic bridg- ing training, or
suffer from learning disabilities. This will then be given attention. Then will follow 12 weeks of basic
training; a week of junior level comrnand and control techniques; four weeks of platoon weapons
training concentrating on the small and light arms used by the South African Army; six weeks of combat
skills training and the week-long Exercise Fire Ant - a series of forced marches and problem- solving. At
this stage, the students will face their first formal evaluation board and a preliminary decision will be
made on whether individual students fit the profile of officer or NCO. Seven days leave days leave
follow, and then stu- dents return to be taught
the art of in- struction, or Methodic. This 11-
week phase is followed by another evaluation
board, and the student companies are then
reorganised to gather together the officer
candidates and regirnental NCOS. Eleven
weeks of officer and NCO-forming follow. The
last two weeks will be devoted to rounding off
the students, physical training instruction, and
preparing for the graduation parade.

Lt Colonel George Barrie, second-in-command
at the Army Gym, says each phase has a
distinctive character. He says maximum stress

is placed on instilling initiative in students.
Even in basic training, opportunities are created for informal leadership training. For example, during
Buddy Training or combat first aid training, a student can expect to be given a situation sketch that
includes a summary of 'injuries' sustained by a'victim', to be placed in charge of a small group of fellow
students and then to direct the aid given.

Comparing with Elsewhere

Generally, the major rnilitaries operate separate training establishments for officers and NCOS. In this
article, four countries will be highlighted as being representative of major military powers. They are the
United States, the United Kingdom, France and Russia. With the exception of the UK, all offer an
officer training programme that is academic in nature. Students graduate with an academic (university-
level) qualification and a second lieutenant's commission. Training is usually four years in duration. The
UK trains its army officers at Sandhurst. The course is a single year in duration and like that offered at
Heidelberg, is military in nature.

Now for a closer look at these countries:

France

French officer are trained at any one of four schools, all collocated at Coetquidan military base near
Rennes in Brittany. The oldest and best-known of these schools is the Ecole Speciale Militaire, better
known as St Cyr, founded on May 1, 1802 at Fontainebleau by the then Prime Con- sul of France,
Napoleon Bonapart.

St Cyr trains officers who will receive regular (as opposed to Reserve) cormissions in the army and the
gendarmerie. The three other schools train National Service officers, NCOs converting to officers, and
administrative and technical officers (mainly women), respectively. Aspirant officers at St Cyr must
complete two years of tertiary (university) education before they can apply. They then receive a year of
military training, after which they complete their last two years of university training at St Cyr,
attending specialist and other military courses during the university vacations.

The United Kingdom

The British also train their officers and NCOs separately. Officers are trained at the Royal Military
Academy at Sandhurst. Entrance requirements are similar to those at Heidelberg. Although close on
70% of officer aspirants now have a tertiary qualification, this is not a requirement. The minimum
educational requirement is the British equivalent of Std 10 without Matric exemption. Aspirant officers
appear before the Regular Commission Board and undergo a three-day selection that includes
psychometric tests and syndicate work to determine aptitude and leadership skills. These are regarded as
much more important than academic qualifications. The course takes 44 weeks, and corps training is
done after commissioning. Thus, like Heidelberg, Sandhurst provides comprehensive all-arms officer
training. The British Army tries hard to recruit graduate engineers and technicians, but it also sends
some officers to the Royal College of Science at Shrivenham for training.

NCOs are trained at separate institutions for historical and doctrinal reasons. The former is partly a relic
of the Class System and partly the recentness of NCO education Vs that for officers. The latter includes

a professional belief that such training must be separate, that NCOs are simply executors of instructions,
and that initiative is not required. NCOs also undergo both all-arms and corps-specific training. Junior
NCOs are required to pass a basic literacy and mathematics course called Education for Promotion
(EfP), as well as a Junior Qualification Management Course (JQMC). This qualifies them for sergeant.
A second EfP and a Senior OMC qualifies staff sergeants for the rank of warrant officer.

The United States

The US also trains officers and NCOs separately Army officers attend one of two institutions, West
Point or ROTC. The United States Military Academy at West Point, offers one of the most highly
respected, quality education programmes in the nation. A West Point cadetship includes a fully funded
four-year college (read University) education ... As members of the Armed Forces, cadets also receive
an annual salary of more than $6,500 ... By law, graduates of West Point are appointed on active duty as
commissioned officers and serve in the US Army for a minimum of five years'. West Point has thirteen
academic departments and, of course, a Department of Military In- struction (DMI). The Department of
History also teaches military arts and sciences.

Cadet training is ongoing, but does not intefere with academic instruction. It is divided into basic (CBT)
and field training (CFT), with an optional ad- vance programme for senior cadets during their summer
vacation. CBT lasts 45 days and 'trains the new ca- dets in military skills and prepares them for entry
into the Corps of Cadets. It imbues them with discipline, personal pride and confidence, and a high
sense of duty. Additionally, CBT provides ... (the two senior classes) ... serving as cadre members with
an environment in which to de- velop the leadership skills they will need to lead the Corps of Cadets and
later fulfil their responsibilities as lead- ers in the Army. The (upper two classes) are charged with
conducting much of the programme of instruction that is described above'. Each of the other three
classes undergo an eight- week period of CFT each year. Again, the two senior classes do much of the
instruction, while the juniors learn individual and team skills. Advanced training is specialised and
includes schooling in Airborne, Mountain War- fare and other techniques. Readers interested in viewing
the course mate- rial can look on the lnternet at http://www.dmi.usma.edu/

Officers are also commissioned through the ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps) system. Many
universities have a military faculty that offers the ROTC programme. The most famous amongst these
are The Citadel in Charieston, South Carolina, and the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) at Lexington,
Virginia. Both are in effect militarised universities that award graduates an academic degree on
graduation, while the US Department of Defence, through the ROTC, awards them a second lieutenant's
commis- sion. A recent study says that 34% of Citadel graduates and 40% of those at VMI enter the
military after commis- sioning. The Citadel makes no bones about the fact that 'the education comes
first; the military experience comes second'. As the present presi- dent of the Citadel puts it: "We expect
our students to give 1 1 0% effort to their course work, because it is important for leaders to know how
to think critically and solve problems". US institutions also put a premium on observance of the Honour
Code:'a cadet does not lie, cheat, steal, nor tolerate those who do as a means for developing an
appreciation for truth and integrity in an Age of Relativism. The military training regimen at both run
along the same lines as West Point. VMI offers the Air Force as well as Navy/Marine ROTC
programmes, in addition to Army ROTC. Pursuing a commission is optional.

The US Marine Corps (USMC) equivalent of Heidelberg is OCS: Officer Candidate School. 'The end
product of OCS is a lieutenant who has exhibited the potential to think and to lead under the stress of
combat'. The school's mission is 'to train, evaluate, and screen officer candidates to ensure they possess
the moral, intellectual, and physical qualities for commissioning and the leadership potential to serve
successfully as company grade officers in the Fleet Marine Force'. Officer candidates are evaluated in

the areas of leadership (50% of the final mark), academics (25%) and physical fitness (25A). Although
the two latter are regarded as important, future Marine officers must above all be leaders. For OGS
purposes, former Marine Commandant, General John A Lejeune's definition of leadership is
authoritative: "Leadership is the sum of those qualities of intellect, human understanding and moral
character that enables a person to inspire and control a group of people successfully." The programme of
instruction can be viewed at http://www.mcu.quantico.usme.mil/ . the Marines also train officers by way
of Platoon Leaders Class, Officer Candidate Class, and by way of Naval ROTC.

Until 1970, the USMC had no formal training for NG0s. To remedy the problem, a Staff NCO (SNCO)
Academy was established that year. This academy now schools marines from sergeant upwards in "how
to be SNC's" and ensures that each has the necessary education, military knowledge and leadership
skills.

Russia

The Russian military is presently somewhere between crisis and transition. Conscription and the mass
army are on the way out, to make way for a smaller, professional military How this will affect their
system of military education remains to be seen. Predictably, officers and NG0s are trained separately
Many prospective officers attend army (Suvurov) or navy-oriented (Nakhirnov) senior secondary
schools for two years, after their fifteenth birthday. Russian officers are schooled in 'higher military
colleges', of which the Ryazan Higher Airborne College is perhaps the most famous. The course lasts
four years. Carey Schofield, a Canadian writer who studied the Russian military for over a year, writes
that, in general, these colleges devote about 60% of training time to relevant military subjects, such as
tactics and weapons, about 30% to various academic subjects, such as mathematics, physics, and a
foreign language, and the last 10% to political training. The kursants (officer cadets) also spend an
average of six weeks before their final year working as platoon commanders in military units,-To gain
practical experience. All military college graduates leave with both a military and a civilian
qualification, the latter usually in an engineering discipline.

More Changes for Heidelberg?

These militaries provide a tertiary education to their officers for three reasons. Firstly, it boosts the
education level of the officer corps; secondly, it provides the military with specialist in-house
knowledge, whether in international relations or hand science; and thirdly, it broadens the horizons of
military officer beyond the strictly military-technical.

That this is a desirable goal for the SANDF is beyond dispute. But can it be done? There are several
obstacles in the way of Heidelberg becoming a West Point or St Gyr.

Thus, logic and fiscal sense dictates that the SA Army provide all-arms training to officers and NCOs at
the same facility: as it is, the Army already has far too many training institutions (20 schools). The
length of next year's course (49 weeks) is also of interna- tional standard.

Economy of scale. A small military that has to keep personnel-related costs as low as possible may not
be able to af- ford separate institutions for officers and NC0s, especially as the pro- grammes of
instruction are substan- tially similar.

Leadership should be (and at Heidelberg, is) the heart of the pro- gramme of instruction. But the source
for both officer NG0s should also have contained a greater academic element. A lack of resources may
preclude a full university-compatible course; but even a first-year-only course, recognised by South

African universities (and the Mili- tary Academy) will be a significant im- provement over the present.
Univer- sity and guest lecturers should be lib- erally used to ensure that students are exposed to as much
military and non- military intellectual stimulation as pos- sible. Subjects on offer should include
mathematics, political studies, (mili- tary) history, geography, leadership

Modern requirements. Historical and doctrinal reasons for separating such training, valid elsewhere,
may not be applicable here, especially in light of the need for NCOs to have officer-like levels of
initiative in the wars of the next millennium. (For more on this topic, see the October 1998 issue of this
magazine, with particular reference to the articles by this writer, and Lt Col Kevin Benson, USA).

Low educational standards and graduate retention. By the same token, a small military in an emerging
economy, may not be able to afford training all its officers for four years along a military- academic
curriculum. And even if it could, it could never afford to pay graduate lieutenants a market-related
salary. In a country with low educa- tional standards, particularly in math- ematics and science and a
massive skills shortage, the private sector will always be irresistible to promising of- ficers: can the
military pay an engineer- ing graduate RI 0,000-plus per month? The South Africa Air Force is experi-
encing this exact problem in retaining qualified pilots. Beeldnewspaper in its July 11, 1998 edition,
writes that the SAAF lost 102 pilots in 1996, 81 in 1997 and about 87 up to that date, this year alone.
The article says the SAAF then had a mere eleven pilots left for its 48 frontline Cheetah air-defence
fighters.

Some other military skills not presently part of the training programme, could also be added. Most of the
junior leader group acquire these skills later, but as most units don't have a training function, the skill
quality is often indif- ferent. Heidelberg-qualitystandardisa- tion in the following may be desirable:

Operational/Regimental skills: all of- ficers and NCOs perform regimental duties and many, at some
stage, per- form duties in an Ops Room or serve as unit adjutants. Hence, they should be trained
accordingly. During the 1 980's the Infantry School trained se- lected officers and NCOs as Admin/ Ops
officers or Transport officers, in addition to the normal curriculum. This extremely useful course ought
to be re-introduced.

-Driver training: all officers and NCOs should be able to (and should be li- censed) drive a range of
military vehi- cles

GSW: all officers and NCOs should be formally schooled in Correct Serv- ice Writing and the correct
use of English studies and philosophy, with a bent towards ethics. Considering this country's appalling
education system with special reference to'previously disad- vantaged' schools, a formal bridging
programme may also be necessary to prepare them for tertiary education by improving the language,
maths, geog- raphy and science skills of students prior to the academic phase.

This allows for a synergy in which JL training can be lengthened to two years, the first mainly military
(but in- cluding bridging programmes for needy students) and second, mainly aca- demic. In this year,
students will dur- ing academic "vacations" do corps-re- lated training and specialist courses (such as
earning paratroop wings).

Bibliography

� Army Gymnasium, Heidelberg. The Leader in leader training, South African Army pamphlet,
1997.

� Ecoles de Coetquidan, Ecoles de Coetquidan brochure, CIRAT, 1998.

� E Gibson, Probleme in lugmag weens tekort aan vegviieeniers, Beeld,11 Juiy 1998

� Marine Corps University, OCS Official Website, 23110198

� C Schofield, Inside the Soviet Army, Headline Book Publishing, London, 1991.

� The Citadel, The Citadel brochure, Office of Admissions, Charieston, South Carolina, USA, 1998

� United States Military Academy, USMA Official Website, 23110198

� Virginia Military Institute, VMI brochure, Office of Admissions, VMI, Lexington, Virginia, USA,
1998.

� See also: R-Adm CH Bennett, The military culture for the SANDF in a democratic South Africa,
African Armed Forces Journal, Jhb, March 1998

� Lt Col KCM BENSON, Waiting for the Meteor, Thoughts on Personal Leadership, African Armed
Forces Journal, Jhb, October 1998

� Lt L Engelbrecht, Training Critical Leaders, African Armed Forces Journal, Jhb, Oct 1998

� Lt L Engeibrecht, Developing Junior Leadership, A Reading of the Debate within the US Marine
Corps, African Armed Forces Journal, Jhb., October 1998.