219 / 409
OFFICER CADET TRAINING
203
ELEVEN
The exceptions were lessons on how to derive a plan through the process known in the British
staff duties manual as ‘Appreciation of Situation’, air-photo reading and, to a lesser extent,
the theoretical aspects of Signals, all of which had practical applications for combat training.
The ‘Appreciation of Situation’, which systematically analyses under set headings, alternate
courses of action in arriving at a plan of operation, got the attention of cadets because they
were told from the beginning that there would be a written examination towards the end of
the course. To many cadets, given their educational background, this must have occasioned
considerable anxiety. It is quite probable that when the test (a three-hour written submission,
complete with overlay on tracing paper) was conducted in the last month of the course, the
determining factor was not so much reasoned arguments, but the broad feasibility of the
final plan of attack which, at the platoon level, was straightforward enough.
Operational Planning.
By and large, cadets looked forward to the practical application of
operational planning. It was almost always in No. 3 Dress with jockey cap, jungle boots and
water bottle, with no webbing or rifles. Typically, a whole morning, when it was relatively
cooler, would be spent at some vantage point studying terrain with respect to the mission and
the enemy scenario, each cadet supplied with a topographic map, air photographs and the
mission statement. The presiding instructor would intersperse individual planning sessions
by grouping the cadets and nominating presenters at random or according to whether they
had been spotted goofing off, or if they thought they could get a good presentation from the
nominee. There would be detailed checking on the ground to highlight issues that may have
been missed or spotted by the cadets and not infrequent refreshment breaks if a convenient
A ground reconnaissance for an appreciation of situation lesson, possibly deliberate defence.