TC 7-102 Operational Environment and Army Learning
Training Circular (TC) 7-102, Operational Environment and Army Learning, is a practical guide on how to integrate the conditions of an operational environment (OE) into robust, relevant, and realistic training, professional education, and leader development experiences. This TC presents critical design techniques and means that support the fundamental concepts of a continuouslthy adaptive learner-centric model—the Army Learning Model (ALM)—for improved Army mastery to anticipate, understand, and adapt successfully to complex, uncertain, and/or ambiguous environments in decisive action.
The purpose of this TC is to guide the training developer, curriculum developer, and leader or commander on how to integrate OE conditions that enhance self-development, leader development, and unit or activity readiness. The intent is to achieve and sustain adaptive Army readiness to standards. Learning experiences range from personal one-on-one instructor-student or mentor-mentee dialogue to technology-enabled simulations and operational mission or training feedback that replicate a particular set of OE conditions in a task/action, conditions, and standards format. The Army’s Operational Environment Enterprise (OEE) delivers OE products, services and support to its Soldiers, civilians, leaders, and supported and supporting stakeholders for readiness. The OEE projects from the institutional training domain, that is, the Army’s institutional training and education system, and impacts the entire Army mission.
Contents
Introduction
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The Operational Environment Enterprise (OEE) is an integrated training environment (ITE) resource that leverages technology-enabled presentations and other information for individual and collective learning experiences and expertise, as well as Army concepts and capabilities development with robust, realistic, and relevant OE conditions. The support provided by the OEE reaches across all Army learning domains with repositories of historical documentation; current observations and lessons learned; projected capabilities requirements, development, and experiment information; and facilitates integrated live, virtual, constructive, and gaming (LVCG) environments.
The Army’s institutional training domain includes but is not limited to Centers of Excellence (CoE), training base centers, schools, academies, and related programs that provide initial training and subsequent professional military education and training for Soldiers, Army leaders, and Department of the Army Civilians (DAC). The OEE leverages technology-enabled learning for individual and collective experiences and expertise, as well as Army doctrine, concepts, and capabilities development with robust, realistic, and relevant OE conditions.
The OEE enhances capabilities that create the intellectual agility and operational adaptability to prevent conflict, shape the environment, and when required, win our nation’s wars. Initiatives and innovations expressed through the OEE shape the Army for future OEs and mission requirements with concepts and capabilities synchronized and integrated across Army doctrine, organization, training, materiel, leadership and education, personnel, and facilities (DOTMLPF).
The Army trains and educates its members to develop agile and adaptive leaders and organizations. A complementary requirement in both the operational and institutional Army is leader self-development. Applying the U.S. Army Mission Command Strategy FY 13-19 to deliberate and intuitive decisionmaking and effective action in dynamic conditions that require a perceptive awareness and clear understanding of the complexities in an OE.
This TC presents examples of “how to” develop effective learning experiences among the Army’s integrated programs of leader development (LD), training, and experience for the Soldier and Army Civilian. The charter for the training developer, curriculum developer, and leader or commander is to identify challenging conditions for a realistic OE to the task/action and standard being developed or institutionalized. These conditions include considerations of professional military and Army civilian education, individual and collective predeployment training, and operational missions. Efficiently and effectively embedding OE conditions in the Army learning continuum maintains the Army as an adaptive and dominant land force in conjunction with unified action partners, service members, and civilians.
The Army uses operational variables of political, military, economic, social, information, infrastructure, physical environment, and time (PMESII-PT) to analyze and describe the conditions of an OE. These operational variables influence each other to varied degrees dependent on time and conditions in a particular continuum of actions. An OE is complex and uncertain as variables increase or decrease in apparent or confirmed importance and effects. The dynamic nature of an OE is an essential consideration in how to train, educate, and self-develop Army members and leaders as adaptive, flexible, and versatile decisionmakers. The Army—people—must be proficient in shaping conditions in support of military plans and operations, and respond effectively to subtle or rapid changes in OE conditions in order to accomplish an Army mission in the context of unified action requirements and directives. The U.S. Army must demonstrate progressive expertise in operational adaptability. (See figure2.)
As the U.S. Army improves its available LVCG collaboration of observations, lessons learned, and capabilities development and experimentation venues for Army readiness, the OEE becomes an expanding resource for OE conditions in support of the Army mission. Complex, uncertain, and sometimes ambiguous conditions of an OE are integral to―
- Improving Army doctrinal training, education, and leader development literature.
- Recurring OE analyses and OE assessments
- Emerging representations of composite or specific adversaries, threats, or known enemies.
- Modeling and simulations of possible or projected tactical, operational, and/or strategic conditions, including the human dimension.
Change is a constant. An OE is dynamic and evolves. Training and educational experiences span individual, functional, and collective training by units, activities, and organizations, home station training (HST), field exercises and other simulations, and the combat training centers (CTCs). A companion to this training circular for integrating conditions of an OE into learning experiences is TC 7-101. Similarly, Army professional education and training span individual Soldier, civilian, and Army leader self-development through initial entry, mid-grade, intermediate, and strategic levels of learning. Development of learning experiences include products such as combined arms training strategies (CATS), warfighter training support packages (WTSPs), collective and individual tasks, drills, and staff and faculty development requirements. Applying adult learning principles uses the analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation (ADDIE) process to conduct instructional system design.
TC 7-102 contains three chapters and three appendices:
Chapter 1 describes the 21st Century strategic environment and the importance to the training and education developer of understanding the operational environment and integrating that OE the instructional design process to produce relevant and realistic learning experiences. The chapter provides a primer on OE analysis and a description of the operational variables (PMESII-PT) that drive analysis with discussion of the possible learning and education implications of an OE.
Chapter 2 describes, in general, the instructional design process of analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation (ADDIE) and important considerations for how to integrate OE conditions into that design. The chapter provides a step-by-step guide to each phase of the ADDIE process and includes an exemplary vignette to facilitate understanding.
Chapter 3 describes support provided by the Operational Environment Enterprise (OEE). This chapter provides an understanding of the resources available to the training and education developer.
Appendix 1 contains a job aid for OE integration into the ADDIE process. For each phase, there are OE considerations and relevant questions.
Appendix 2 contains an exercise design checklist as a ready reference for training and education developers who include an exercise as part of their instruction. This topic is treated in detail in TC 7-101, Exercise Design.
Appendix 3 contains a threat opposing force (OPFOR) tactical task list from TC 7-101. The chapter includes a concise explanation of applying OPFOR conditions in learning objectives.
This publication does not introduce or modify existing doctrinal terms. The glossary contains applicable acronyms and defined terms.
Chapter 1: 21st Century Strategic Environment
The strategic environment remains as it has always been―complex. The current strategic environment seems more ambiguous, presenting multiple layers of complexity and a multiplicity of actors challenging the Army with requirements beyond traditional warfighting skills and training. A wide-range of actors across current and projected environments–friendly and neutrals, malicious actors, and threats–will interact often in an uncoordinated manner to produce a complex environment. Neutral or even friendly actors act in accord with organizational goals that may be contrary to U.S. national interests and cause friction. Malicious actors use violence in pursuit of their goals and will potentially challenge U.S. national interests and vulnerabilities. Threats will use this complexity to their advantage and often employ hybrid strategies. This multiplicity of actors will continue to operate across operational environments during the foreseeable future.
Chapter 2: Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation
There are five phases the training and curriculum developer progresses through to develop and institute training, education, and leader or self-development material. The analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation (ADDIE) process takes the training and curriculum developer from the initial determination of a requirement or need through the analysis, design, and development phases; to implementation of a learning experience; and continues a learning continuum with evaluation improvements of training or education products-process. The required outcome of this continuum is a sustained and/or improved readiness to standards.
Chapter 3: Operational Environment Enterprise Support
The Operational Environment Enterprise (OEE) builds, validates, creates, maintains and delivers OE context and complexity for leader development; training and professional education; experience, and concept and capabilities development.