<p class="MsoNormal">For decades, navies have crewed the ship 'cos the ship fights (the people – apparently – didn't). According to RAdm Jude Terry, the Royal Navy has changed this: with People as a capability, the focus is on the crew rather than the ship. This reversal of priorities might just change the habit of cutting training budgets each year when money gets tight and 'savings' need to be found. But there is a lot behind this – it has to be more than just a strap line.</p>

For decades, navies have crewed the ship 'cos the ship fights (the people – apparently – didn't). According to RAdm Jude Terry, the Royal Navy has changed this: with People as a capability, the focus is on the crew rather than the ship. This reversal of priorities might just change the habit of cutting training budgets each year when money gets tight and 'savings' need to be found. But there is a lot behind this – it has to be more than just a strap line.

<p>For decades, navies have crewed the ship 'cos the ship fights (the people – apparently – didn't). According to RAdm Jude Terry, the Royal Navy has changed this: with People as a capability, the focus is on the crew rather than the ship. This reversal of priorities might just change the habit of cutting training budgets each year when money gets tight and 'savings' need to be found. But there is a lot behind this – it has to be more than just a strap line.</p>

Naval training: Putting people first?

Training a military force is a proposition unlike the one faced by other civil organisations: It has to prepare people to perform in the chaos and turmoil of battle – even simple tasks like making deliveries or baking bread become very different in the face of artillery fire or roadside bombs. It's not just about mental pressure and physical discomfort, it is about facing death while doing the mundane and business-as-usual tasks. It is, perhaps, the greatest test of humans and has always been so. As military training has evolved (along with the force it enables), so have the opportunities in technologies such as simulation: are the benefits without bounds, or is there a point that the benefits of simulation tail off? What mix of virtual and physical performance maximises performance? And amongst all of this is the reality of organisational culture, and the cost-effectiveness of training. How much of this training can be outsourced to a commercial provider? What is the optimal amount of training done away from the cauldron of combat, and how much must be exercised under arms and stressing conditions? Answering these questions is crucial if we are to all understand the importance of training in a military force – and how to optimise it to win in the greatest of contests. Listen to the series as we talk to people who think a lot about military training - from the professional soldiers and commanders to the academics who study it, as well as the commercial operators who are increasingly being employed to deliver it.

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Naval training: Putting people first?

Naval training: Putting people first?

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