Ep 291: Facts Based Training Protocols with Dr. Preston Cline
Jan 31, 2024
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Dr. Preston Cline from MCTI discusses military training, instructor development, and challenges of transitioning from operator to instructor. Emphasizes humility, curiosity, and empathy in training. Highlights the importance of repetition, experience, and cultivating NCOs. Explores the impact of the hard life on special operators and the need for honest conversations. Discusses the value of flexibility, communication, and maintaining a sense of humor in one's career.
Effective communication is crucial for transitioning operators into instructors within military training protocols.
Balancing simulation training with real-world scenarios enhances operational preparedness for high-stakes engagements.
Maintaining 'weaponized curiosity' and humor is essential for long-term success and adaptability in demanding military environments.
Deep dives
Foundation of Mission Critical Team Institute
The Mission Critical Team Institute was founded with observations from leading wilderness expeditions at the Wharton School in 2008. Collaborating with special mission units, Dr. Preston Klein focused on learning to navigate extreme uncertainty facing criticality and urgency, particularly witnessed during a live fire exercise.
Tackling Tacit Knowledge Transfer Problem
The Mission Critical Team Institute addresses the tacit knowledge transfer problem, wherein experienced professionals struggle to teach their intuitive expertise effectively. By partnering with global members in the five I community, the Institute aims to develop better language and techniques for transitioning operators into instructors, emphasizing the need for effective communication and accelerated learning.
Balancing Simulation and Reality for Training
The discussion delved into balancing simulation training with real-world scenarios to enhance operational preparedness. While simulations offer crucial repetitions and cognitive training, they cannot fully replace the physical challenges and spontaneity of actual missions. Finding the right blend ensures comprehensive readiness for high-stakes engagements and overcoming the limitations of solely simulated approaches.
Selecting for Weaponized Curiosity and Humor
One of the key aspects highlighted in the podcast episode revolves around the selection criteria for special operations teams. Emphasizing the importance of 'weaponized curiosity,' individuals are encouraged to maintain a relentless sense of curiosity and inquisitiveness throughout their careers. However, the episode warns against becoming fixed in mindset, urging individuals to maintain a sense of humor and not take themselves too seriously. This combination of weaponized curiosity and humor is essential for long-term success and adaptability in demanding environments.
Embracing the Hard Path and Taking Responsibility
The podcast delves into the notion of choosing the 'hard path' when embarking on a career in special operations or similar challenging fields. It stresses the need for individuals to take full responsibility for their choices and the consequences that come with them. Highlighting the extreme experiences and hardships that may arise, the episode underscores the importance of making meaning out of these experiences by surrounding oneself with understanding peers and embracing the role of being both a rescuer and one who seeks to find meaning in challenging situations.
In the Air Force Special Warfare pipeline and beyond, you will be wholly immersed in training every day you show up to work. So, how do we design training? What's the science behind how we train?
We brought on Dr. Preston Cline, founder of the Mission Critical Team Institute (MCTI), to discuss the importance of cultivating and developing instructors in the military. He highlights the challenges of transitioning from operator to instructor and emphasizes the need for humility, curiosity, and empathy in training. Preston also addresses the cultural challenges within the Air Force and the importance of validating instructors with scientific data.
He emphasizes the value of repetition and experience in instruction and the need for job creation and cultivation of NCOs throughout their careers. Additionally, he discusses the impact of the hard life on special operators and the need for honest conversations about long-term effects.
The conversation explores the challenges and opportunities for senior NCOs in providing value and influencing change within the military institution. It emphasizes the importance of flexibility, communication, and understanding the language of officers to accomplish meaningful outcomes. The discussion also highlights the need for humility, continuous learning, and maintaining a sense of humor throughout one's career.
The chapters cover topics such as the challenges of providing value as a senior NCO, working with officers, solving problems for one up and one down, the importance of trust, learning from mistakes as an instructor, and taking responsibility for the hard path.
Make sure to follow everything that Dr. Preston Cline is doing through his project, Mission Critical Team Institute over at https://missioncti.com/# and make sure to check out his podcast, the MCTI TeamCast everywhere you can download your podcasts!
Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Background of Mission Critical Team Institute 01:03 The Commonalities Between Wilderness Guides and Special Operations 07:37 Adapting to Change and Developing the Next Generation 09:00 The Challenges of Transitioning from Operator