Joint Forces Staff College

21st Century Small Unit Leaders: Developing the Ultimate Smart Power Weapon (Defense) Joint Forces Staff College

Globalization and the information age have created an environment in which small unit leaders have operational and strategic importance. The demands of the Irregular Warfare require small unit leaders within the General Purpose Forces to be more culturally aware; intellectually adaptable; seasoned in their decision-making requiring fundamental changes in the way they are educated, trained, and gain experience. This book will first address how individuals make decisions by comparing and contrasting analytical and intuitive decision-making. Second, it will address the strengths and weaknesses in current training and educational paradigms via an analysis of the Systems Approach to Training. Third will be a proposal for the inclusion of new initiatives for developing small unit leader intuition and adaptability in IW. Following this, there are recommendations for inculcating critical thinking and decision-making skills in small unit leaders by adopting methods of instruction found in Outcomes Based Training and Education and Adaptive Leaders Methodology as well as the experiential based learning that immersive training environments provide.