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In reflecting on all the information that we have learned about the Army’s knowledge transfer protocols and efforts to train its workforce, I am still amazed that the Army has done so well in this area. I am amazed because the Army employs thousands of employees who are strategic deployed in disparate locations both domestic and international. In regards to knowledge transfer, the Army has managed to not only learn from the actions it takes in various situation but it also shares this valuable knowledge with thousands of employees successfully when much smaller companies have failed at the same process. So this in itself is amazing. I believe the difference in this case is that the Army has made learning a priority. Everything that we have learned about the Army suggests that training has to be intentional, constant, and flexible.

It has been very refreshing to learn that the information that we read in our text still holds true. For me, the most significant information was about the Army’s After Action Review. I really found AARs to be a practical approach to assess success and challenges with a given task. AARs are also applicable for a variety of tasks and in multiple settings. The approach while simple can yield big rewards and valuable information if done right. In my world, this new found information to be extremely helpful with event planning.

One of the tasks that I perform in my job is planning special events for my library. While I’ve always done a post-mortem after our major events but I found the Army’s process to be much more significant because it allows me to gain feedback about an event from a variety of perspectives. I like this method because it allows my unit to consider the perspectives from staff at all levels in our organizational structure. I believe my staff found the process to be very helpful because their feedback and perspectives was important for planning for future events. In addition, incorporating the feedback from all staff bought issues to the forefront that we would have not identified otherwise.

I’ve held an AAR immediately following our Cybersecurity fair and a chapter meeting for a national association. Implementing the AARs allowed me to generate a lessons learned document that I can revisit each year before planning for the next event begins. The information gleaned from this process helped me to identify tasks or functions that should be stopped, sustained or improved upon. Overall, the information yielded from AARs has proven valuable because it has forced my team to actually reflect on an event to determine what we did well, what we did poorly, and what we would do differently if given the opportunity. We will conduct an AAR immediately following each of our major events.

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