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The setting up of a machine gun by a weapons team quickly and under all weather conditions is a key aspect of success. Military convoy teams constantly rehearse and re-rehearse how to react to an enemy attack, treat an injured team member, or recover a stuck vehicle. The ability to know how to practice, improve, and practice again that military veterans know at a base level is critical to innovation success.

The after-action review. The U.S. Army uses the After Action Review (AAR), and the Navy and Air Force use the debrief process. The purpose is to help an organization and individuals understand what happened, what worked, what did not work and why, and what the plan is to improve the deficient areas.

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In the military, the AAR process is used daily in the same manner, regardless of whether the unit is three to five people or thousands. One of the most valuable aspects of the AAR is that a well-run AAR creates engagement by participants because it asks and listens to feedback from all team members regardless of rank, position, or experience.

Backup plans. Another Special Operations planning process is the P-A-C-E plan. P-A-C-E stands for Primary, Alternate, Contingency, and Emergency, and it is used to create four independent and effective ways to accomplish critical battlefield processes such as casualty evacuation, ammunition resupply, or leaving an objective area.

Related: Veterans Are Valued in the Workplace

With P-A-C-E, Special Operations ensure success because they plan and anticipate problems and find ways to surmount obstacles to ensure the mission is a success even if their first three plans fail. Success is not by accident; it is a plan.

Military SOF teams succeed through hard work, rehearsals, extensive training, extensive planning, thorough use of intelligence, and technology. However, the greatest asset to any team is the individual skill sets working together to enhance, train, teach, and lead the team to ever higher levels of performance.

Related: This Veteran Could Save Your Company

Chad Storlie is a retired lieutenant colonel with 20-plus years of active and reserve service in infantry, Special Forces, and joint headquarters units, and an OpsLens contributor. He served in Iraq, Bosnia, Korea, and throughout the U.S. and was awarded the Bronze Star, the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Special Forces Tab, and the Ranger Tab. He is the author of two books. This article is from OpsLens and is used by permission.

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