http://www.commelec.forces.gc.ca/inf/new-bul/vol54/article-07-eng.asp said:
Welcome to the Future! - ACISS Training Begins in January 2011
Written by Major M. Coyle, Chief Instructor, CFSCE
In 2007, General Hillier as Chief of the Defence Staff officially closed the Military Occupational Structure Analysis, Redesign and Tailoring (MOSART) project. This failed undertaking was initiated in 2002 and sought to modernize the CF’s Military Occupation Structures from top to bottom. It simply turned out to be too much, too soon.
We want to do it; we have to do it, the question is just how we do it. The solution is to continue the work in ‘chunks’—manageable pieces that won’t place too much pressure on the CF. - General R. Hillier
In the months that followed, Army Signals harnessed the good from that effort, and received approval from the Chief of Land Staff to transform the Sigs NCM occupations. The plan was to move from three silo structures into one integrated occupation called the Army Communications and Information Systems Specialist (ACISS). While billions of dollars were invested digitizing the CF / Army and developing a network-enabled capability over two decades, the Army Sigs NCM occupations and the supporting training had not kept pace.
After a two-year DLCI led effort to complete the macro design and layout the national transformation effort, Army Signals were set to embark on the critical task of developing the supporting training. Faced with this challenge (and an incredible opportunity!), DAT, CTC, and CFSCE worked collaboratively to fill in the new ACISS straw-man.
2009 / 2010 involved focused concept development to ensure that the jobs within ACISS and the supporting training were both relevant and future focused, not simply a re-shuffling of the deck. The result is a robust and flexible occupation where the “the network” truly is the common thread. Within the sub-occupations, a Computer Network Defence employment stream was formalized owing to the increasing importance of that domain. System Management is fully integrated and we re-invest heavily in the training of WOs and MWOs. These are but a few of the highlights…
This effort was reinforced by an unprecedented number of Qualification Standard (Requirements Phase) and Training Plan (Design Phase) Writing Boards. These boards assembled subject matter experts from across the Army Signals and beyond (Academia, Industry, Other Government Departments, …) to inform the development of training at every stage. In some cases, we made mistakes or otherwise learned something that made us challenge what we had done in a previous step. In all cases, our reflex was to go back and get it right.
The critical issue in getting to implementation was the need to define and seek approval for the additional resources – ACISS came with a bill. After a series of high level briefings from mid-September to early November 2010, CFSCE received approval from both Commander LFDTS and A/CLS to proceed with the implementation of training beginning with DP 1.0 in January 2011. From January 2011 to January 2012, ACISS training will be progressively phased in while legacy training is phased out by May 2011. To accommodate the increased training demand and address major gaps throughout the unit, CFSCE will grow substantially over a two-year period. Additional investments will also be in equipment, vehicles, and infrastructure over the same period.
While significant challenges lie ahead, both Army Signals and the C & E Community writ-large has reached a major milestone we can all be proud of. This trade transformation is also inspiring great professional discussion and debate in other areas of the C & E Branch, and we’re all stronger for it.
VVV