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O H I O S P E C I A L R E S P O N S E T E A M
After Action Reviews (AARs)
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O H I O S P E C I A L R E S P O N S E T E A M
The following power point training presentation
must be viewed at unit training and/or under the
supervision of an OSRT officer.
Members viewing the presentation must sign
an OSRT sign in sheet. The completed sign in
sheet signed by an officer must be submitted to
the OSRT planning (Training) Section to receive
credit for the training.
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O H I O S P E C I A L R E S P O N S E T E A M
Course Intent

• To develop a better understanding of the concept,
  tools, and techniques of facilitating an
  effective AAR.
• To challenge everyone in this room to make the
  AAR a part of your culture.

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O H I O S P E C I A L R E S P O N S E T E A M
After-Action Review
We must continue to look critically at our
abilities to achieve decisive victory and aim to
improve. I believe that one of the single most
important innovations of the past 20 years...one
of the keys to our edge today...is the
After-Action Review. At all levels, the AAR
provides us an honest appraisal of our
performance and directs our efforts to correct
shortcomings. General Gordon R. Sullivan,
CSA ( Ret)
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O H I O S P E C I A L R E S P O N S E T E A M
Unit 1 Objective
Understanding the AAR

• Understand the purpose, history, and theory of
  the AAR process

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O H I O S P E C I A L R E S P O N S E T E A M
Definition

• An AAR is a professional discussion of an
  event, focused on performance standards, that
  enables soldiers to discover for themselves What
  happened, Why it happened and How to sustain
  strengths and improve on weaknesses.
• It is a tool leaders and units can use to get
  maximum benefit from every mission or task.

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O H I O S P E C I A L R E S P O N S E T E A M
Purpose
Why use the AAR?

• The AAR is a learning tool intended for the
  evaluation of an incident or project in order to
  improve performance by sustaining strengths and
  correcting weaknesses.

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O H I O S P E C I A L R E S P O N S E T E A M
Purpose
How is an AAR used?

• AARs may be conducted at any organizational
  level. However, all AARs follow the same general
  format, involve the exchange of ideas and
  observations, and focus on improving proficiency.
  

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O H I O S P E C I A L R E S P O N S E T E A M
Purpose
What an AAR is NOT!

• Investigation tool
• Disciplinary tool
• Critical Incident Stress Debriefing

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O H I O S P E C I A L R E S P O N S E T E A M
History
Where did it come from?

• A post-Vietnam War resurgence of organizational
  learning within the U.S. Army led to the modern
  AAR format
• It was institutionalized by the U.S. Army Combat
  Training Centers as a way to capture lessons from
  simulated battles and rapidly implement
  improvements.

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O H I O S P E C I A L R E S P O N S E T E A M
History
How long did it take?

• It was a decade before the process was fully
  accepted and embedded in the culture.
• This organizational learning method was proven by
  the U.S. Armys performance in the Gulf War.

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O H I O S P E C I A L R E S P O N S E T E A M
History
More background on the AAR

• Discussion with Mark Smith, retired Senior
  Non-commissioned Officer, U.S. Army Special
  Operations and leadership development consultant
  with Mission-Centered Solutions.

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O H I O S P E C I A L R E S P O N S E T E A M
Theory
What does an AAR look like?

• It should encourage input from participants
  focused on
• What was planned?
• What actually happened?
• Why did it happen?
• What can be done the next time?

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O H I O S P E C I A L R E S P O N S E T E A M
1. What was planned?

• Establishes what was planned at the beginning of
  the operational period.
• Measures whether or not personnel understood what
  was expected of them at the beginning of the
  operational period.

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O H I O S P E C I A L R E S P O N S E T E A M
2. What actually happened?

• Pool multiple perspectives to build a shared
  picture of what happened.
• Identify changes that happened during the
  assignment that differed from the original
  briefing.
• Measures the effectiveness of briefings and
  whether changes in assignments were communicated
  to everyone.

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O H I O S P E C I A L R E S P O N S E T E A M
3. Why did it happen?

• Draw out explanations of what occurred.
• Analysis of cause and effectfocus on WHAT not
  WHO.

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O H I O S P E C I A L R E S P O N S E T E A M
4. What can we do next time?

• Improve on WeaknessesIdentify actions or
  procedures that can be executed more efficiently.
  
• Sustain/Maintain StrengthsIdentify areas where
  groups are performing well and should sustain.

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O H I O S P E C I A L R E S P O N S E T E A M
Unit 2 Objectives
Facilitation

1. Understand the key considerations for effective
   AAR facilitation.
2. Recognize barriers that may occur while
   facilitating an AAR and techniques that can be
   utilized to address those barriers.

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O H I O S P E C I A L R E S P O N S E T E A M
Facilitation Considerations

1. Timing
2. Ground Rules
3. Techniques

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O H I O S P E C I A L R E S P O N S E T E A M
Timing

• As a leader, time your AARs so that they can be
  as effective as possible.

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O H I O S P E C I A L R E S P O N S E T E A M
Timing

• Emotion and memory are chemically linked in the
  brain.
• Your brain remembers things when there is an
  emotional attachment to the experience.
• As time goes by, the emotional attachment fades
  along with specific memory.

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O H I O S P E C I A L R E S P O N S E T E A M
Timing

• AARs occurring soon after the action tend to be
  more detailed, technique-specific, emotional and
  therefore more effective.

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O H I O S P E C I A L R E S P O N S E T E A M
Timing

• Crews and teams that integrate AARs into their
  daily routine are more successful in keeping the
  practice alive as stress and time demands
  increase during a busy fire season.

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O H I O S P E C I A L R E S P O N S E T E A M
Ground Rules

• 1. Make sure that everyone participates
• 2. Allow all crewmembers the opportunity to
  share honest opinions and learn from each
  other.
• 3. The AAR focuses on WHAT happened, not WHO did
  it.
• 4. Does not grade success or failure.

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O H I O S P E C I A L R E S P O N S E T E A M
Ground Rules

• 5. Reinforce that it is OK to disagree.
  Differing points of view and conflicts need to
  be addressed. (Disagreement is not disrespect)
• 6. Tact and civility are required personal
  attacks are forbidden.

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O H I O S P E C I A L R E S P O N S E T E A M
Ground Rules
7. Go through the event in a logical sequence
and compare performance against the task and
intent. According to U.S. Army guidelines,
roughly 25 of the time should be devoted to the
first two questions, 25 to the third question,
and 50 to the fourth question.
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O H I O S P E C I A L R E S P O N S E T E A M
Ground Rules

• 8. The facilitator enters the discussion only
  when necessary to keep things focused.
• 9. End on a positive note.

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O H I O S P E C I A L R E S P O N S E T E A M
Techniques

• Leading/thought-provoking questions
• Have unit members describe what happened in their
  own words
  
  
  
  
• Explore alternative courses of action
• Avoid detailed examination of events not directly
  related to major training objectives

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O H I O S P E C I A L R E S P O N S E T E A M
Barriers with an AAR

1. Environmental
2. Human

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O H I O S P E C I A L R E S P O N S E T E A M
1. Environmental Barriers

• Fatigue
• Stress
• Hunger
• Time
• Slow shiftnothing to talk about

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O H I O S P E C I A L R E S P O N S E T E A M
2. Human Factor Barriers

• Dominant personalities
• Quiet personalities
• Conflicting personalities
• Disbelief in the process
• Denialunwilling to accept accountability

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O H I O S P E C I A L R E S P O N S E T E A M
Ending on a Positive Note
Make it a part of your culture

• Unless After Action Reviews are carried out
  routinely at all levels of the organization, they
  will never be viewed as more than an interesting
  diversion. Consistency breeds acceptance.

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O H I O S P E C I A L R E S P O N S E T E A M
FORMAT TO   FROM   SUBJECT
    ACTION- SUPPORT-   PROBLEM AREAS- A, B, C,
D, E, ETC.   OTHER INFORMATION-
  RECCOMMENDATIONS- A, B, C, D, E,
ETC.   CONCLUSION-  

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O H I O S P E C I A L R E S P O N S E T E A M
BOTTOM LINE
We are all trainers and the AAR is the primary
training tool. Good AARs get results. Focus
your AAR on the major issues. Modify your
technique based upon the situation and adjust the
format to accomplish the mission. Get the unit
to admit their shortcomings and work together to
develop a solution. Remember, you are
providing feedback on the units performance as
well as teaching the unit how to conduct their
own AARs.
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O H I O S P E C I A L R E S P O N S E T E A M
Any Questions???
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O H I O S P E C I A L R E S P O N S E T E A M
Reference MRA 105.1 Para I.3.f.xiv-(K) Source
Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center Training
PowerPoint slide program prepared by Headquarters
OSRT 11 February 2014
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O H I O S P E C I A L R E S P O N S E T E A M
This completes the training on this subject.