Air University Review, January-February 1971
Major Albert D.
McJoynt
Major Joseph R. Sanchez
Major Fraine C. Zeitler
The Vietnamese Air Force opened its first professional military educational school, Truong Chi-Huy va Tham-Muu (CHTM), or Command and Staff School, Intermediate Level, on 2 January 1970. Located at Nha Trang, it was organized with the assistance of a Mobile Training Team from Air University. This was the first use of an MTT to assist an Allied nation with its professional military education (PME), their previous oversea efforts having related to technical training.
Air University received a request from the Air Force Advisory Group (AFGP), Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) in late October 1968 to help the VNAF start a PME system with a school similar to the USAF Squadron Officer School (SOS). This VNAF requirement was the result of a rapid increase in the VNAF officer corps without a corresponding increase in PME facilities. The advisory group recommended that a training team, consisting of experienced SOS faculty members, deploy to Vietnam and assist the VNAF in developing the school’s curriculum and jointly conducting the first class.
Planning groups started working on AFGP’s request in November 1968 and prepared recommendations on team composition, VNAF faculty and curriculum, and a PME orientation program. In January 1969, the SOS Commandant selected three of his faculty members for the AU training team, which would develop a basic curriculum, conduct the orientation program at Maxwell AFB, and assist in training all the CHTM staff in Vietnam.
The team and the school’s director and chief of curriculum completed most of the curriculum planning by 1 August 1969. The curriculum covered five areas: communicative skills, leadership, national power and international relations, management, and employment of military forces. Over 120 periods were identified and lesson folders prepared to guide later detailed research. The team also identified, collected, and mailed support materials to Nha Trang.
The MTT chief arrived in Vietnam in late August, and the other two members arrived in early November. The faculty reported to Nha Trang on 1 September except the section commanders, who arrived on 1 October after attending SOS Class 69-B and the Academic Instructor Course. Detailed lesson planning and construction of the facilities started on 1 September.
On 2 January 1970 Major General Tran Van Minh, VNAF Commander, officially opened the first class. Thirteen weeks later, on 31 March, 39 officers completed the course on schedule, and only a few problems with the new curriculum and facilities. The school had accomplished its mission by providing selected junior VNAF officers the necessary skills, knowledge, and attitudes needed in establishing a dedicated and professional officer corps.
Our chief planning tool was the Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) network that we developed. This network, designed for the period April 1969 through January 1970, had several advantages. First, it forced us to review the project in its entirety. It permitted us to see and resolve potential problems quickly. Those problems we could not resolve until we reached Vietnam were adequately identified so that we knew what information to get or what actions to take upon our arrival. Second, we could show other agencies the plan of action selected for the entire project and the areas where we expected problems or would need additional support. Finally, since the team and the key faculty members worked together in using the PERT network, the VNAF officers could readily clarify our understanding of the in-country problems that would be associated with the project.
orientation program
The orientation program was conducted during April–August 1969, when the school director and the chief of curriculum monitored Class 69-B of the Squadron Officer School. Detailed briefings and workshops were conducted on the five SOS curriculum areas, the major activities and responsibilities of every SOS directorate, and key planning and operating procedures. The two VNAF officers also observed a variety of lectures, seminars, field activities, and formal and informal social events. They also discussed professional military education with other Air University personnel.
The orientation program was very important. It exposed the two CHTM faculty members to the total SOS program. We explained each lesson period and how the periods blended together for a complete program. At the same time, we also learned about problem areas in Vietnam. Finally, the orientation period helped us establish excellent rapport with the Vietnamese officers. Working with them and bringing them into our homes and social events helped remove the barriers to effective communication. What we gained from the orientation program enabled us to move rapidly and effectively when we got to Vietnam.
visit to Philippine school
The team learned much about the operation of a small professional military school from a presentation by the faculty of the Philippine Air Force Officer School (PAFOS). During the earlier planning meetings at Maxwell it was recognized that the team members were not familiar with small professional school operations, especially one operating in the Far East. The Air Force Advisory Group decided that the team should visit the PAFOS at Nichols Air Base, Pasay City, Philippines, while en route to Vietnam. That school had a faculty and student size comparable to that planned for the school in Vietnam. Also, the PAFOS course was taught in English, and all the faculty spoke English.
The team took part in several PAFOS workshops and obtained useful information on scheduling, field leadership activities, field-grade officer students, and section commander orientation programs. We met informally with several of the section commanders and the course director and discovered that the school had made extensive use of Philippine Air Force (PAF) and civilian guest lecturers in its curriculum. That PAF Headquarters was giving the school excellent support was apparent from the dynamic school program and the enthusiastic PAF personnel we met.
Project X
A highly successful part of the Truong Chi-Huy va Tham-Muu curriculum was Project X, an outdoor leadership laboratory or reaction course, three sessions of which were conducted during the first class. The Mobile Training Team conducted the first session for the entire staff, under the same ground rules and time sequence used in the following two student sessions. The purpose of Project X is to give the students an opportunity to practice their newly acquired knowledge of the principles and concepts of leadership, problem solving, and group dynamics techniques. At the end of each task in the laboratory, the students are given a critique, or feedback, by a faculty member. The faculty member gives his observations on the interactions he saw and points out both the effective and ineffective leadership roles, problem-solving techniques, and human relations situations that occurred. He offers the students different or new methods and approaches to improve their skills and techniques in these three areas.
The Project X facility consists of eight simulated combat situations or tasks. For safety reasons, mine fields and other dangerous or hazardous conditions have been modified or replaced with a system of fouls and penalties. In some tasks, rivers have been replaced by water pools, and six-foot-high platforms have been substituted for bridge towers. This provides each task with a physical challenge and taxes the confidence of any student who is afraid of water or heights. Each task requires a six-man team to solve the specific situation with certain pieces of equipment. Finally, the task must be completed in a specific time period, 15 minutes in the CHTM program. This specially designed facility and the time pressure element add a new dimension or view of people operating in a stress condition.
Constructing the Project X facility was one of our biggest jobs. While at Maxwell, the team had designed an eight-task facility patterned after the SOS Project X. Diagrams, blueprints, and photographs were assembled for use in Vietnam. However, the VNAF construction personnel did not know English, so they started using the photographs rather than the blueprints. Anyway the blueprints were based on 1968 construction information that the MTT had received from USAF personnel returning from Vietnam, and the situation had since changed. So the blueprints had to be redone, using different materials, primarily metal pipe and salvaged angle irons. In spite of the material problems and the wet weather encountered, the VNAF completed the Project X facility on schedule. At present it is the only group leadership laboratory in Southeast Asia.
One of the most interesting aspects of the school was the class composition. Although the school is designed for company-grade officers, the first class included 11 majors and 28 captains. The majors were promoted under a waiver from VNAF Headquarters that permitted certain officers who met all the promotion criteria but had not completed a professional military school to be promoted to major provided they attended a PME school at the next possible date. The waiver helped maintain the integrity of the VNAF officer promotion system and did not penalize those officers eligible for promotion who could not attend a PME school because of unit wartime requirements. This personnel action presented a possible threat to the success of the course.
The faculty and the team were concerned about the possible negative reaction between the students and the section commanders. Each student section contained nine or ten majors and captains, because of the promotion waiver action. Also, each section had a faculty adviser, called section commander, a VNAF captain. (One of the four section commanders was promoted during the first class.) Most of the learning takes place in the section seminars, where the curriculum and related student experiences are discussed openly and freely. Because of the mixed ranks in each section, we feared that free discussion would be restricted and the students would gain little from the seminars. Since most of the majors were group or squadron commanders and all outranked their section commanders, the possibility existed that they would feel that the school had little to offer them and that being a student degraded their position. However, this situation was resolved by General Minh in his opening address and guidance to the students. Moreover, the section commanders used tact and good human relations in their daily contacts with all the students. In addition, the director and his three division chiefs monitored the daily class activities and resolved incidents or situations before they could disrupt the sections or the school.
subject matter
Although the CHTM is closely patterned after our SOS, the curriculum is tailored to fit VNAF needs. The concepts of writing and speaking are similar to those in the SOS, but the writing assignments are based on specific VNAF situations and require specialized VNAF writing formats. In the leadership area, most of the concepts and principles contained in Air Force Manual 50-3, Air Force Leadership, were used. The group dynamics portion, including Project X, was new to the Vietnamese. Much to our surprise, we found that these Western-oriented concepts and principles were readily accepted. Both the faculty and the students felt that this material was important and useful in their daily contact with others. The national power and international relations subject area, which contained basic material on the democratic and communist ideologies, was presented by capable Vietnamese civilian and military guest lecturers. This area was tailored to the present ideological conflict in Vietnam, with emphasis on the rural pacification program and regional political organizations. The fourth area, management, contained several periods adapted from the Squadron Officer School. However, the curriculum did not go into detail on computer sciences or PERT. Instead, the CHTM faculty stressed a Vietnamese modification of PERT called Program Review and Analysis Evaluation (PRAISE). The employment area was specifically tailored to the Vietnamese armed forces, much of the subject matter dealing with the use of air power in support of ground operations. Some lectures were presented on the principles of war and basic air doctrine. Guest lecturers presented material on the other roles of air power and other service functions. In all, over 468 hours were spent in the CHTM curriculum.
methodology
Several methods were used in presenting the curriculum. The lecture method was used quite extensively because textbooks were not available. Civilian, other military, and government official guest speakers presented about a fourth of the lectures. The faculty lecturers prepared over 70 student reading handouts and numerous lecture outline guides. About half of the guest lecturers provided the students with individual reading handouts or lecture guides. The school staff is presently compiling this information for future textbooks.
The school conducted two field trips during the first class. The entire class visited several Vietnamese and Allied units in the Da Lat and Nha Trang areas. These orientation visits provided the students a better understanding of the mission and operation of the advanced schools at Da Lat, the Vietnamese Rangers, the Vietnamese Navy, and the Korean Army in Vietnam. The field trip also provided a change of pace in the school’s demanding curriculum and was a definite asset.
The faculty used two programmed texts during the first class. These were “Logical Thinking (Communicative Skills)” and “PERT (Management).” Both were translations of Squadron Officer School texts and were modified by the CHTM faculty to fit the VNAF situation and needs. The PERT text was very basic and introduced the CHTM’s block of instruction on PRAISE. The results obtained from the first use of these two texts were very promising, and the CHTM faculty is revising them for use in the second class.
mode of operation
The CHTM was a VNAF-operated program. One objective of the project was to insure that the Vietnamese learned how to operate the school themselves. The key faculty and the MTT agreed at the start of the project that the school had to be operated by the Vietnamese to succeed as a VNAF professional military educational institution. It was very important that the first class be completed successfully with VNAF leadership and performance. Once the faculty training and planning were completed at the end of December 1969, the school was run entirely by the VNAF faculty; the MTT only monitored the daily school activities and offered suggestions to the director and his staff. The team’s role was restricted by the language factor.
The entire course was taught in Vietnamese. Since time did not permit the training team to attend a formal Vietnamese language course, they could not teach or lecture to the students. Many of the students in the first class were not proficient in the English language. Consequently, both the Air University and the Squadron Officer School planning groups recommended that English not be used in the course. Past experience indicated that greater learning and understanding would result if the Vietnamese language was used. When special English terms or words were used because they could not be clearly translated, there was no problem. The faculty successfully resolved these language situations, and the class was completed on schedule.
The Air University Professional Military Education Mobile Training Team was able to complete its mission successfully for several reasons. It received excellent support from numerous organizations at Air University, Seventh Air Force, Air Force Advisory Group, MACV, and United States Air Force and Army units in II Corps, Republic of Vietnam. The Truong Chi-Huy va Tham-Muu faculty performed a difficult task in an outstanding manner, especially the director and his division chiefs. The initial planning and the PME orientation program were apparently the most important factors in the project’s success.
The Mobile Training Team concept has great value in establishing a professional military educational system in other countries. Some aspects of the MTT concept were modified because of the nature of professional military education or the conditions that existed in Vietnam. However, the concept did work. More important, the young and growing RVN Air Force now has the opportunity to improve its officer corps effectiveness and help its country; it has gained new strength through knowledge.
Squadron Officer School, Air
University
Majors Zeitler, McJoynt, and Sanchez were all members of the Air University team that helped establish the first Republic of Vietnam Air Force professional school at Nha Trang. . . . Major Fraine C. Zeitler (B.S., University of North Dakota) is now doing graduate work at North Dakota under AFIT. A gradate of the Squadron Officer School and Academic Instructor Course, he has served as an administrative officer, a missile operations officer, and an instructor at SOS. . . . Major Albert D. McJoynt (USMC; M.S., George Washington University) is Chief, Analysis and Reports, War Gaming Branch, CINCLANT. He is a pilot, and has flown with the 1370th Photo Mapping Wing. After graduating from Air Command and Staff College, he was an instructor at SOS. . . . Major Joseph R. Sanchez (M.S., Troy State University) is a combat crew navigator, 22d Air Refueling Squadron (SAC), March AFB, California. A graduate of Squadron Officer School and Air Command and Staff College, he has spent most of his career as a SAC navigator.
Disclaimer
The conclusions and opinions expressed in this
document are those of the author cultivated in the freedom of expression,
academic environment of Air University. They do not reflect the official
position of the U.S. Government, Department of Defense, the United States Air
Force or the Air University.
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