Commission on the Defence Forces Public Consultation Response Submission by Institute of Technology Carlow 18th March 2021 1. Capabilities – In this regard, you may wish to consider future integrated capability development and the planning and delivery requirements to support a joint force approach in terms of new equipment, professional military education and training, maintenance and development of infrastructure, developments in military doctrine, and transformative concepts, including specialist capabilities, that prepare and support the Defence Forces for future operations. This submission under the heading of capabilities is made by Institute of Technology Carlow and is focused on the need to retain and to further develop the education of all ranks and all skillsets of the Defence Forces (DF). It is allied with the area of staffing particularly in the areas of recruitment and retention, career progression and indeed embedding organisational culture and values. Through the training and education of its personnel, the DF will maintain and enhance its capabilities in national and international spheres as a relevant and operationally effective organisation. Introduction Defence policy ensures that the DF continues to contribute not only to national and international defence but within that context must also make a significant contribution to the social and economic development of the country. Military capability is not just about the equipment of the organisation but primarily the skill sets of the personnel whether in planning and leadership or in its use of this increasingly sophisticated equipment. Providing this training and education not only provides a significant contribution to the operational effectiveness of the DF but also provides a more effective contributor to society and thus to economic recovery on the retirement of personnel from the DF. While external threats to sovereignty have decreased, they have been replaced by the increased threat of international terrorism which knows no geographic or virtual boundaries. Contingency planning for such threats demands that DF personnel have the capability for critical thinking, research and analysis and the agility to work with other organisations whether other national armies or with national civil authorities. Such skillsets come from an educated workforce and through this education provides a confidence not just within the organisation but also to the partner organisations whether national or international. Since 2004, the Institute of Technology Carlow is proud to have worked collaboratively with the Defence Forces on a number of initiatives; all of which support the concepts outlined in the previous paragraphs. These have included: • Developing with the Communications and Information Services (CIS) Corps, a Bachelor of Engineering in Military Communications Systems for its trainee technicians, which merges electronic engineering academic theory provided by the Institute with practical theory and practice using the equipment and staff of that Corps. This development has also drawn professional accreditation from Engineers Ireland under the Sydney Accord for associate engineer status. This was further enhanced through the provision of the Institute’s Bachelor of Electronic Engineering for serving technicians of the CIS Corps, Air Corps (AC) and Naval Service (NS). These all have graduated as technicians many years previously through a number of different technical training schemes. This programme brought the academic qualifications and Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) of these technicians in line with new graduates of the Bachelor of Engineering in Military Communications Systems. • Developing and providing, with the combat support and combat service support corps of the Defence Forces, Masters Degrees in: o Ordnance Engineering for the officers of the Ordnance Corps o Communications Technology Management for officers of the CIS Corps o Military Engineering for officers of the Engineer Corps. All of the above Masters’ degree programmes are delivered using a combination of Institute of Technology Carlow and the relevant Corps’ lecturers and provided in-house by that Corps. • Developing, validating and delivering a suite of programmes embracing all enlisted personnel training and education and work-based learning with the highest award of a Bachelor of Arts in Leadership, Management and Defence Studies. • Provision of technician training for the Ordnance Corps in the areas of: o Electronics technician training aligned with the Bachelor of Electronic Engineering programme at the Institute, and o Mechanical engineering technician training aligned with the Institute’s Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering programme. • Developing and delivering shorter continual professional development programmes (microcredentials) leading to special purpose awards in the areas of Health and Safety, firefighting, refrigeration and aircraft maintenance management systems for Defence Forces personnel. • Developing undergraduate and postgraduate research projects in conjunction and within the framework of DF capability development in advanced security technologies through our EngCORE research group. Numerous international review panels have recognised the distinctiveness, successful outcomes and quality of ethos together with the student experience and teaching, learning and assessment methodologies provided collaboratively by the Defence Forces and Institute of Technology Carlow in these programmes. This has been reinforced through: • Shared lecturing coupled with linked provision and programme management focused on the three key layers of: strategic, quality assurance and enhancement and ongoing programme monitoring and review. • Ongoing staff professional development for instructing staff of the Defence Forces through a series of non-accredited and accredited activities. The model employed by the Defence Forces and the Institute has been held as an exemplar for the wider public service through shared activity in Our Public Sector 2020 (OPS 2020) Action 14 (Professional Development) and further recognised and awarded in 2019 by the Department of Education and Science. Analysis This development of education opportunities for all personnel of the DF is in line with the National Strategy on Education to 2030. In his opening comment to the report, Colin Hunt, the Chairman of the HE Strategy Group stated that the group believed that higher education was central to future economic development in Ireland, and that there were broad social and cultural advantages to widening participation in higher education. In particular, the report stated that: “In many professions and occupations there is already a requirement for continuous professional development, and this creates a demand for part-time and short courses at any time of the year, on any day of the week, at any time of the day...People want to pursue education in parallel with employment, so that their path to any particular educational goal could be considerably longer than that of a full-time student and people want to progressively build on their knowledge and experience, and want their achievements to be recognised”. The DF education structures as outlined above with IT Carlow but also in place with other higher education institutions provides such a lifelong learning model where promotion opportunities are now linked to education opportunities resulting in a more skilled and ultimately a more motivated workforce. The NCO career courses are the main vehicles for Institute of Technology Carlow awards but a further sixty DF courses contribute to the modules that make up the programmes leading to awards. Thus the training recognised for the awards is both wide and inclusive no matter what arm of the DF the solider is employed. Significantly a strong emphasis is placed on experiential learning which is captured through the completion of a work-based learning portfolio by all new entrants of the DF and which sets the scene for critical analysis informing future education. Pooling of resources is as important to the DF as it is to any other national public service provider. Through the creation of the training programme for its technical Corps, the DF gain the expertise of the academic excellence of Institute of Technology Carlow lecturing staff without the requirement of developing and sustaining its own lecturing staff thus allowing them focus on developing the practical maintenance and research and development skills of their technical support structures. Institute of Technology Carlow for its part gains a cohort of mature students with practical life experiences which both enhances the programme for all its electronic engineering students as well as enhancing the overall student experience within the Institute. Providing an accredited ‘technical’ programme for all personnel in Corps such as the CIS, Engineer or Ordnance Corps is a method of ensuring that the right quality personnel are available to recruit into these Corps as well as a motivating factor for the graduates to remain knowing that their academic and technical development needs are being catered for by their employers. This competence may be further enhanced through research activity enabling opportunities for knowledge transfer and innovation with academia and industry. The development of asymmetric warfare through terrorism attacks across national and virtual boundaries has highlighted the need for a highly educated army of all ranks. This army must be capable of free