It is important that military personnel and civilians operating with or along side them are well educated and trained to function effectively in the contemporary operating environment. Civil-military education and training is needed for... more
It is important that military personnel and civilians operating with or along side them are well educated and trained to function effectively in the contemporary operating environment. Civil-military education and training is needed for military personnel to raise awareness of the complexities associated with operating in current peace support and stability operations. This education and training should expose militaries to the range of actors who they will encounter in the contemporary operating environment, and provide the necessary tools to assist them when interacting with those actors. This chapter, written from an Australian perspective, discusses the importance and reasons for education and training to prepare military personnel at all levels for civil-military interaction and examines some specific mediums, such as field and command post exercises. It considers the different requirements for training and how to successfully meet those requirements. It concludes by identifying some of the challenges for civil-military interaction training and education and offers suggestions to overcome these challenges.