Main Subcommittee Category
Policy, Standards, Management, and AcquisitionHow would you label your submission?
GovernmentAbstract
With the development in international and national policies, which advocates zero tolerance for offensive behavior, it becomes essential to develop and implement specific guidelines for preventing and handling offensive behavior in military training. Doing so ensures that the military lives up to policy standards, fulfills its responsibility for the well-being of training participants and staff, and that training investments yield the intended effects to shape the forces needed for defense and deterrence. An active training environment, characterized by participant activity and interaction, creates meaningful and effective learning experiences. The instructor's role within this context of active learning is to create a space for experiential learning and to guide participants' work and to facilitate collaboration. However, such a training setting, which encourages intense interaction among participants and between participants and the instructor, also presents risks related to conflicts - and even offensive behavior. Whereas papers earlier presented have partly dealt with handling of conflicts; in this paper, we fully shift our attention to the instructor's tasks, challenges and resources concerning preventing and the proper handling of offensive behavior in military training. This paper reports on a qualitative sample of policies and initiatives relevant for preventing and handling offensive behavior in military training and discusses the advantages and pitfalls of these developments with regards to ensuring a safe and effective training and learning environment for participants and staff alike. Drawing from insights and conceptual development within the Danish military, we propose a comprehensive framework for the instructor's tasks, and instructor competence development with regard to preventing and handling offensive behavior in military training to ensure that modern integrated, and active military training environments will shape the forces needed for future defense and deterrence.