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Navy Warfare Training SystemBy U.S. Fleet Forces CommandCommanders need to understand thewarfare tasks they are required to performand the conditions and standardsthat govern accomplishing them.They must train to perform tasks tocomplete specific steps and reach clearmilestones. Those tasks are defined asNavy mission essential tasks, and capturedin Navy Mission Essential Task Lists(NMETLs), the backbone of tackling tasksduring mission analysis, gathering lessonslearned and improving the processof producing readiness through trainingand other tools.NMETLs collect a world of mission data,categorize it by who can do what and alsodescribe the conditions in which missionstake place.This system for task accomplishmentknowledge and improved decision makingneeds to be understood and used, accordingto David K. Brown, a retired navalofficer who advocates the importance ofNMETLs for U.S. Fleet Forces Command’straining requirements and assessmentsbranch.“The big idea is called the Navy WarfareTraining System,” Brown said, explainingthat the process is based on a joint trainingsystem installed in the 1990s as partof the Department of Defense trainingtransformation.The Navy Warfare Training System is ameans of sharing the knowledge base ofNMETLs, judging readiness and improvingthe training and readiness processes.Information from different groups pursuingtraining tasks can be shared and comparedby using the Navy Training InformationManagement System.NTIMS is an application that makes tasklists and associated lessons learned withinthe Navy Warfare Training System moreeasily available.“The application itself, NTIMS, is a Webbasedapplication that manages NWTSfor the Navy,” said Rod Davis, who overseestraining standards for the trainingrequirements and assessments branchat Fleet Forces Command, which is headquarteredin Norfolk, Va.“It lets the user build a training planand curriculum,” added Bryan Nelson,a database developer assigned to FleetForces Command.Earlier this year, the training requirementsand assessments branch won anaward from Cognos for using technologyto make the process of using NMETLsmore effective via the Navy Warfare TrainingSystem.“U.S. Fleet Forces Command can tietraining activities to mission essentialtasks to quickly and efficiently measurethe relative readiness gains for each dollarit spends on a particular training program,”read the award citation.“It’s the Navy’s authoritative sourcefor NMETLs,” said Mark Morrison, deputybranch head for training requirementsand assessments. “It allows thefleet to document, in a consistent format,training plans and training resourcerequirements.”“This is all intellectual capital,” Brownsaid. “What NTIMS does is it gives us aplace to pack that intellectual capital.”Mission essential tasks are not just measurementsof executing an action; theyencompass the ways of accomplishinga set of tasks to standards under certainconditions. NTIMS is effectively a searchable,interactive database and library ofall of those tasks and lessons learned.Brown is the "Johnny Appleseed" ofNWTS. “I call myself the 'NMETL advocate'for Fleet Forces Command,” he said. “Sofar I’ve gotten away with it. The conceptis so powerful, in my mind, that when Isee guys wringing their hands, most ofthem haven’t sat down to do their missionanalysis.”Brown teaches the importance of usingNMETLs and the Navy Warfare TrainingSystem in regular seminars aimed to makeother advocates out of attendees, whowill in turn spread the word. To amplifyhis message, Brown wears a card aroundhis neck that prompts passers-by to askhim about NMETLs and NWTS.“When I get going about this stuff, Iusually get too excited to keep sittingdown,” Brown said while introducing aclass at the Naval Postgraduate SchoolAnnex in Norfolk.Brown’s classes, NMETL 101 and 201,are geared toward leaders involved inmission capabilities and performancebasedreadiness. He said NMETLs, combinedwith properly updating and managingthe data associated with tasks, leadto better training and, ultimately, betterdecisions.“After the fall of the Soviet Union, wehad to find ways to have a much moreflexible and responsive force,” Brownsaid. “What we want to show is the valuewe add to our commanders and the valueour supporting commands add to us.”For example, training can be tailored tomeet response needs to changing worldsituations — from responding to a naturaldisaster — to fighting a major war.NMETLs, he said, “visualize the mission,value contributions, verify progress andvalidate courses of action. … If you getthe requirements right, everything elseflows from there. When we do NMETLsright, they drive training, performanceand resources.”These are performance-improvementtools, Brown said. The lists help commandersunderstand that they do a certaintask under certain conditions andmeet a standard.By incorporating lessons learned, commandersand mission planners who tacklethe same task in the future benefit fromthe experience of others. Though they aregenerally used for training plans and certifications,the lists have other applications.Brown, and Capt. Brian Barrington, formerlyof Fleet Forces N72, wrote that theNWTS “really can become the Navy’s performanceimprovement engine.”David K. Brown of U.S. Fleet Forces Commandteaches a seminar on NMETLs and the NWTS, whileBarbara McCarthy, a program analyst assigned toFleet Forces, takes notes. U.S. Navy photo.60 CHIPS www.chips.navy.mil Dedicated to Sharing Information - Technology - Experience