Fighting and debating

Good wartime commanders are very different to those who excel in peace. How do we educate and train people for both roles? What skills are we currently prioritising in future leaders during periods of Professional Military Education, and are they the right ones? These are not oft posed questions in most Western militaries, yet France bucks that trend in having senior officers who seem to be constantly thinking about and showing continued interest in military education. Their PME process is tasked to deliver “Informed decision-makers with critical thinking skills and open mindedness” (just like many other European military academies): but it has an important addendum to the task, “with the capacity to break out of a prescriptive mindset in order to solve any problem”. To achieve that, the Ecole de Guerre approaches PME in a different way. Peter talks to Emilie Cleret, Head of the English Studies Department for French Higher Military Education at Ecole de Guerre, about debating, philosophy, culture, and the future of professional military education.