There is an age-old saying that knowledge or education (gained from textbooks in the library) – unless it can be applied in real life is meaningless. Gen Shivane thus rightly emphasises that the journey of learning and education is “learning to unlearn, de-learn and relearn”.
The purpose of Professional Military Education (PME) is to apply knowledge and education to enrich the training and imbibe a scientific temper in the military personnel argues Lt Gen A B Shivane, PVSM, AVSM, VSM in his forthcoming book Professional Military Education – Making of the 21st-century warrior.
The book aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the present PME to assess whether it is responsive to the dynamic military needs of the present and future.
PME as per the author could be defined as the accelerated learning continuum that provides military personnel with the intellectual overmatch and academic vigour, the technical and tactical skills and the judgement for decision superiority, under complex and uncertain combat situations for military success.
It is a strategic military necessity that contributes to stable civil-military relations, thought leadership, joint operational ethos and critical analysis.
According to Gen Shivane, it is the conceptual link between military education and military effectiveness. Just like education prepares an individual to attain his potential, PME is the bloodline of military personnel and the intellectual, moral, and social support system that prepares them to face the challenges in the future multi-domain battlespace.
In recent times the character and rules of war, as well as the expectations from the key players have witnessed a tectonic. Similarly, history, geography, technology, geopolitics, and economics, have changed the shape of the modern battlespace.
In such an environment the challenge is to redefine curriculum, invest in the intellectual domain, and design the teaching model for lifelong learning as well as upgradation of skills from ‘womb to tomb’. Unfortunately, the military the world over is conservative by nature and preparing not for the future but invariable the last war.
As Gen Shivane aptly suggests, warfare is evolving faster than warfighters. Hence, according to him, the challenge is to adapt and develop the PME to create strategically inclined and technology-ready intellectual warriors for the future battlespace with the right kind of scientific temper, decision making and combat skills.
According to Gen Shivane, the Indian PME is one of the world’s most respected models that has proved its worth on the battlefield and in internal security. Despite this, he suggests that the future PME needs to be wider in context, complex in content, and more abstract in character, demanding introspection and reorientation at each level.
However according to the author while there is a need to focus on tactical excellence but commensurate with service also a seamless transition to operational and strategic competence. The need is for greater emphasis on:
- Strategic Thinking and Communication Skills
- Intellectual Overmatch
- Critical and Creative Thinking
- Exploitation of Technology Edge (including AI)
- Information Warfare
- Civil-Military Fusion
- Joint Service Operational Culture
According to the author, the need is to review, rebalance and reorient the PME objectives, curriculum and methodology to dynamically adapt to the threats that the nation faces to its national security today and in the foreseeable future.
The book Professional Military Education— Making of the 21st Century Warrior is a research project undertaken by the author in pursuance of the Chief of Army Staff Chair of Excellence 2021-2022, at the Centre of Land Warfare Studies, New Delhi. The book’s main purpose is to evaluate the role played by PME in the context of the military in general, with special emphasis on India as well as to suggest a new vision statement for future PME framework.
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Besides the author’s research and peer review, a large number of interactions have been carried out with both serving and retired senior military officers who are at the helm of policymaking, heading PME institutions or who have had wide experience in the PME sphere. In addition, to assess the felt needs of the environment, an online Google survey has been conducted across varying service and age groups to establish the necessity of change and substantiate the wider acceptability of the proposed policy reforms. The book is a seminal work with in-depth research, analysis and pragmatic recommendations. The book is expected to be released soon by the Chief of Army Staff.
