Higher Order Thinking in the Australian Army Suite of Logistic Officer Courses

The Chief of Army (CA) has clearly directed the Australian Army's Training Command (TC-A) to provide training and education that "equips soldiers with the intellectual tools they need for creativity" and is prepared to resource "structures that support innovation" as part of his Twenty-first Century Army Capability Requirement campaign. (Leahy 2004, 27) In order to undertake this directive, TC-A must determine the requirements necessary to effectively and efficiently carry out this directive. The current Suite of Logistic Officer Courses (SOLOC) has been recently criticized for failing to meet this requirement with the general perception that there is a distinct lack of higher order thinking competencies within this continuum. Unless the SOLOC is able to include competencies and learning methodologies that foster higher order thinking skills in its junior logistic officers TC-A will be unable to meet the CAs intent in preparation for the twenty-first-century warfighting environment as described within the HNA construct.