THE AFTER ACTION REVIEW PROCESS

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THE AFTER ACTION REVIEW PROCESS

• DOCTRINE
• Major R. Kennedy

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AIM
TO DEVELOP A COMMON UNDERSTANDING OF THE AFTER
ACTION REVIEW PROCESS, ITS INTENT, KEY ELEMENTS
AND THE APPLICATION OF THE PROCESS TO TRAINING
AND OPERATIONS
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MAIN TEACHING POINTS

• What is an After Action Review (AAR)
• Terminology
• The Army Lessons Learned Process
• Why Conduct AAR
• Key Elements of the AAR Process
• The AAR Process and Confirmation
• Steps of the AAR Process

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REFERENCES

• Annex E to the Army Strategic Planning Process
  The Army Lessons Learned Process
• CFP 300-8, Training Canadas Army, Chapter 7
• After Action Review Aide-Memoire

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TERMINOLOGY

• Critique The critique is characterized by
  mainly one-way flow of feedback about an
  individuals or teams performance. While the
  participants will often be offered the
  opportunity to identify their own strengths and
  weaknesses, it is clearly understood that the
  senior person involved in the critique stands
  ready to fill in any gaps . The critiques only
  advantages are that it takes less time to conduct
  and is useful when the participants ability to
  analyze their own performance may be limited due
  to inexperience. Critiques should be the
  exception rather than the norm.

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TERMINOLOGY

• Debrief The process of retrieving information
  from returning patrols and aircrew. Also used
  commonly in the Army to describe the process of
  providing feedback to an individual or a team
  about their performance. This term and critique
  are interchangeable.
• Hot Wash-up - The quick and dirty attempt after
  a training event to capture lessons. Normally
  does not allocate sufficient time or resources to
  permit a focussed discussion of what happened,
  why it happened and how to improve.

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THE ARMY LESSONS LEARNED PROCESS
The Army Lessons Learned Process is the process
by which the Army collects, analyzes, assimilates
and distributes Army, CF and Allied experiences
as lessons. The intent of the process is to
enable the Army to profit from its own
experiences and those of the CF and our Allies,
with a view to avoiding the duplication of costly
errors, particularly those involving death or
injury, of emulating success and consistently
improving its performance.
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MAJOR ACTIVITIES - ALLP

• Determine Information Requirements (Lessons) for
  Future Activities
• Collect, Analyze, Develop Lessons and Coordinate
  Staff Action
• Provide Direction to Assimilate Lessons Into
  Doctrine, Trg, Acquisition of Equipment, etc
  Archive and Disseminate Lessons, Provide
  Feedback, Follow-up
• Incorporate Existing Lessons Into Planning for
  New Activities

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THE AFTER ACTION REVIEW PROCESS

• It is the process by which After Action Reviews
  are planned, prepared, conducted and followed-up.
  Its intent is to allow the participants of a
  training event or an operation to QUICKLY and
  CONSISTENTLY LEARN the most from their
  experiences.

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WHAT IS AN AFTER ACTION REVIEW?
An After Action Review is a professional
discussion of a training or operational event
that focuses on identifying what happened, why it
happened and ways to improve.
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TYPES OF AAR DOCTRINAL CHANGE!!!

• AAR will not be identified by type.
• Once the requirement for an AAR has been
  identified, the timing, location, duration and
  the resources to be allocated, will be based on
  availability, tempo, the complexity of the
  learning objectives and the optimum number of
  participants.

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WHY CONDUCT AAR?
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LEARN MORE FROM OUR TRAINING
There are two major objectives of training in
Canadas Army. The first is to leverage the
greatest amount of learning and improvement from
any training event. The second is to develop
in Canadian soldiers, at all levels, the ability
to learn quickly during operations and to use
that knowledge to not only improve performance
but to seize the initiative. Chapter 7, Section
2, CFP 300-8 Training Canadas Army
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LEARN TO LEARN FROM EXPERIENCE
Increased tempo and dispersion on the
battlefield generate an increased requirement to
learn quickly, without direct supervisionsoldiers
and teams need processes that allow them to
objectively analyze their experiences and the
factors that effected them those processes must
enhance their ability to predict or influence
future events in their favour, thus enabling them
to seize the INITIATIVE. The ability of a team
to analyze its own performance and to develop the
means to improve must be honed during
training. Chapter 7, CFP 300-8, Training
Canadas Army

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IN OUR BUSINESS, WE DONT ALWAYS GET A SECOND
CHANCE TO LEARN!!!
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KEY ELEMENTS

• TIMELY FEEDBACK. Troops need feedback as soon as
  possible so that they can begin using that
  information to begin learning and improving. The
  more objective and accurate the feedback, the
  easier it is for them to determine what happened
  and why it happened (ground truth).

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FACTORS EFFECTING TIMELY FEEDBACK

• Tempo. When is the right time to pause to
  provide feedback?
• Source. The more objective the source, the more
  readily the soldiers and the team will accept the
  feedback. Potential sources include
• Chain of command
• Observer/Controllers
• OPFOR
• Weapons Effects Simulation and audio-visual
  equipment

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FACTORS EFFECTING TIMELY FEEDBACK

• Opportunity to utilize the feedback to improve.
  If no time or resources are allocated to make use
  of the feedback, then it will be wasted.

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KEY ELEMENTS

• ACTIVE PARTICIPATION. People learn more quickly
  when they are actively involved in identifying
  their own problems and developing their own
  solutions. In order for active participation to
  occur, time must be available and the
  participation must be encouraged.
• An atmosphere must exist within the team that
  encourages active participation. If team members
  believe that their input is not welcome, will not
  be acted upon or that disagreement equals
  disloyalty, then it will be difficult to
  generate active participation.

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WAYS TO ENCOURAGE ACTIVE PARTICIPATION

• Make sure there is lots of time for discussion
• Include as many members from the team in the AAR
  as possible.
• Ask open ended questions
• Share the discussion time
• Let the team do the talking. If the
  Observer/Controller is talking more than the team
  members, its probably a critique, not an AAR!

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KEY ELEMENTS contd

• FOCUSSED DISCUSSION. The discussion must be
  focussed on what happened, why it happened and
  how to improve. The AAR must focus on solutions,
  not just problems. Improvements must be based on
  doctrine.

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WAYS TO FOCUS THE DISCUSSION

• Avoid using the question So, how did you think
  that went? Use a key event and look at what
  happened, why it happened and how to improve
• Orient the discussion to their application of
  doctrine to the tactical situation
• Keep the discussion focused on the teams
  performance, not that of others

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KEY ELEMENTS

• FOLLOW-UP. The participants must be provided
  with the opportunity to put the solutions that
  they have developed into practice so they can
  demonstrate to themselves and their chain of
  command that they have learned and improved.
  This builds confidence and team cohesion.

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THE AAR AND CONFIRMATION??

• The AAR and confirmation are EXCLUSIVE
  activities.
• Active participation will not occur if the
  participants feel that their remarks will be used
  against them or their leaders.
• If the intent is to learn from a confirmation
  event as well as to assign a grade or mark, the
  grade or mark will be assigned prior to the start
  of the AAR.

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THE AFTER ACTION REVIEW PROCESS
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AFTER ACTION REVIEW

• DEMONSTRATION