PME is important, but we know that you are busy. We know that you don't always have time to create PME packages, so The Cove has made it easier for you to conduct PME – anywhere, anytime. In his 2019 Cove Address, the former Chief of Army spoke about the importance of managing tempo for our people. We know how busy our people are; so we designed these exercises to be grabbed ‘off-the-shelf’ when your team has time to spare, or as a precursor to mornos in the mess.

In this article you can find our consolidated list of off-the-shelf PME packages including Quick Military Education (QME) exercises, NCO/WO PME sessions and Junior Officer PME.

PME doesn’t have to be a weekly lecture in the Officers Mess or a round table with the CO. PME for soldiers can be as simple as printing out a blog post you’ve read and sharing it with your immediate team or network. A simple soldier’s five on what it means to you and why others should hear it is more than enough to increase your knowledge, and that of your mates. PME could also include a discussion on a current world event and what it means to you and the Australian Army. How about what’s happening in Iraq at the moment and how it affects your chance of a trip to Taji on the next rotation? Maybe PME could be watching a movie. Many excellent books have also been made into movies. Most of history’s key events have featured in movies in some form, and provide a good starting point for expanding your knowledge.
– Daniel Cowen in PME is Not Just for Officers

One of the things which makes the Profession of Arms both interesting and demanding is the requirement to be well-versed in a range of topics – leadership is just the beginning. Therefore, each PME activity nests within one of the five knowledge areas which The Cove addresses:

  1. Art and Science of Thinking
  2. Art and Science of War
  3. Leadership, Ethics and Society
  4. Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)
  5. Organisation, People and Projects

QME Exercises

The information in this package is designed to help junior commanders to develop and deliver soldier-level PME in the unit environment. We know that there may be times, whether it be at the range, in the field or even in the barracks where you may have a spare 10-30 minutes and want to use this time meaningfully but may not have the time to prepare. Explore the links below to give it a try:

 

NCO & WO PME

Each edition of NCO/WO PME takes between 1 and 2 hours to complete. Each one lists a variety of texts and podcasts to read and listen to prior to having a 1 hour discussion on the content.

These exercises are suited to NCOs and WOs in the regimental, training, and staff environment – not just combat brigades. Some cover more challenging material than others, so select them with the experience and aptitude of your team in mind. Effort was made to select source material that will generate insightful, and perhaps sometimes heated discussions amongst your team with the primary focus of individual development. Each exercise recommends further PME for those interested in continuing the conversation.

Click the links below to access each PME package:

 

Junior Officer PME

This package of Professional Military Education (PME) exercises are designed for the development of all junior officers within combat brigades, units, training and staff environments. They are all-corps and have an operational focus.

These ready-made and 'field tested' PME exercises (with videos, articles, facilitator guidelines, questions and extension activities) provide the foundation to generate insightful and meaningful group based discussions. The primary focus is towards bettering ourselves as individuals in support of organisational capability.

Click the links below to access each JO PME package:

 

Don't Forget to Reflect!

Reflection is an important element of learning. It allows us to consider theories or events and understand how they might apply to us. One way to conduct reflection is by using the 'what, so what, now what' process. In this instance, this process could be used like this:

  1. WHAT did I learn from considering this scenario?
  2. SO WHAT does that learning mean for me as a military professional?
  3. NOW WHAT am I going to do about (with) the information I’ve learned?

Writing this down in a journal, essay, blog post or our Reflective Journal app is a good way to consolidate your learning.

 

Concluding Comment

If you have suggestions on how we can improve our PME resources; including additional reading, reference material, discussion points or delivery methods – please contact us at the.cove@defence.gov.au.