JOINT ANALYSIS LESSONS LEARNED CENTRE NATO'S LEAD AGENT JOINT ANALYSIS

Discussion, Conclusion, and Recommendation (ODCR). This is the
format that entries into the LL staffing area of the NLLP must take in
accordance with Bi-SC Lessons Learned Directive 080-006 (Reference
C) and therefore it is recommended that your organization collect
observations in this template from the start.
Notes
Annex B explains the template in full and Annex C provides Joint,
Maritime, Air, and Land examples using the template.
Post Event Reporting
Post event reports are an ideal means to capture observations. The Bi-
SC Exercise Directive 075-003 (Reference E), supplemented by
individual sub-command directives and SOPs, gives specific direction on
the format and timeline for production of post-event reports, including
interim reports. This reporting should already contain much of the
information you need to capture observations.
Focus of Post Event Reporting
The key to worthwhile post-event reporting is ensuring that the final product
is focused on giving guidance to the next event’s planners, not the previous
event’s participants for review. This focus will help to ensure that mistakes
are not repeated and best practice is institutionalized. Without this focus,
post-event products tend to be shelved and do not become part of the
knowledge base of the next rotation of actors in the exercise or operation.
Post Event Reporting Good Practice
Capture adequate data in a timely manner throughout the exercise
process stages.
Capture data in a common format.
Apply quality analysis to the data.
Prioritize issues.
Produce information that can be shared with the appropriate
community of interest.
Post-Operational and Post-Exercise Interviews
One way to convert tacit knowledge gained during operations and
exercises into explicit knowledge for inclusion in the observation is by
interviewing SMEs. Post-operation or post-exercise interviews are a
valuable way of capturing lessons before troops and key leaders
disperse, and while the memories of the events are still clear. Interviews
have the added advantage of allowing the interviewer to focus on
interest areas that the interviewee may otherwise not consider important.
One example of this technique in practice comes from the US Center for
Army Lessons Learned (CALL), which coordinates what is known as an
“Umbrella Week” with forces returning to home units, prior to postdeployment
leave. During this week, CALL interviews many of the troops
to capture observations. This is the only opportunity that CALL has to
extract potential lessons from returning troops before they disperse.
Annex D outlines a basic interview process that allows the interviewer to
methodically obtain a broad outline of events, while focusing on key
events and their causal factors.
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