Operation assessment: Lessons learned across echelons

Abstract

Assessors often become invaluable assets to commands, especially during the execution of critical or non-standard missions. Unfortunately, due to the nature of these missions and staff turn-over, assessors often start from ‘scratch’ as young officers in nascent assessment programs. Years of lessons learned are often overlooked. This paper brings together a team of analysts with separate experiences as assessors in Army and Joint assignments from the Combined Joint Task Force (CJTF) level to the Brigade level to share insights gained through experience that apply in nearly all assessment contexts. The authors focus on three primary areas. First, they show how assessors must understand context and should often use reason and qualitative data more than rely on numerical metrics. They then explore how assessors can help staffs and leaders accurately identify trends amidst noisy and chaotic operational environments. Finally, they demonstrate how the assessment team can leverage and assist the staff to enable better assessments.