Military culture change due to changing training methods

Master of EducationAt the time of writing this paper the Australian Army was in the process of celebrating its 100 year of service to the Australian community. A soldier in battle is under enormous stress and there is no other occupation within our society in which the worker is placed in such a situation of unlimited liability. Supporting our soldiers when they are in this situation requires much from us, the people being defended, and much from the organisation of which the soldier is a member. On a cognitive level, such support takes the form of a strong organisational culture, a culture unique in our society. To defend our society requires an organisation that possesses certain cultural aspects that are an anathema to the civil society at large. While those serving the Australian Defence Forces are drawn from Australian society they are required to take on the assumptions, beliefs and value systems of the Army if they are to function effectively as soldiers. To make this change the Army, like other organisations, conducts a socialisation process to change the `cultural' identity of the individual so that it can connect with that of the Army. This study endeavours to take a closer look at what such service requires of the individual soldier and the growing impediments to the establishment of those requirements. This research centres on a particular Army school responsible for Initial Employment Training of soldiers so that they can become technicians and tradespeople in the Regular Army. In the past, decisions have been made with respect to who teaches these Army students and how they will be taught. It is the proposition of the author that these changes have altered the Army's ability to both establish and maintain the transmission of its culture to the students