As posted by myself in "Reg Force Equivalency for RPC" back in december:
"Through to 2001, MITCIP was the alternative training program for those officers who could not attend regular force training through RESO. It consisted of 4 courses. BOT(Basic Officer Training) 1 and 2 were considered equivalent to phase one or BOTP and were together 4 weeks long. BAOT (Basic Army Officer Training) equivalent to phase two or Common Army Phase (CAP) was two weeks long. The phase 3 infantry or RPC equivalent was known as BCT (Basic Classification Training) and was six weeks long. All told, this meant that a reserve infantry officer would be trained in 12 weeks, normally spread over two summers under MITCIP.
Under the current training program instituted in 2002, known as RAOTP (Reserve Army Officer Training Plan), an officer conducts BOTP (5 weeks), CAP (5 weeks), and RPC (8 weeks or 44 training days), totalling 18 weeks of training generally split over two summers. Additionally, the MITCIP training scheme focused on the "armoury floor" aspects of being a reserve officer (Acting as an RSO, platoon adminstration, etc), while RPC focuses on the essential aspects of training identified in the DP system (For RPC they consist of "Fire Platoon Weapons", "Command a Platoon in Offensive Ops", "Command a Platoon in Defensive Ops", and "Command a Dismounted Platoon Fighting Patrol". Of course, those subjects were covered to some degree on BCT as well.
So to answer your question, MITCIP and the RAOTP are similar in the sense that they are modularized training, but the material covered, the time allocated and the nature of the assessment, are all quite different.
The purpose of the DP system was to establish common training standards between regular force and the reserve force. By characterizing training objectives into essential, supplemental and residual, it allows for the reserve force to offer courses that cover the essential aspects only, leaving the door open to make up the training at a later date, through a "delta" course, to become qualified to the regular force standard.
As for the current training system not "cutting the mustard", it really depends on what one is comparing it to. The current system, RAOTP offers over 30% more training time than MITCIP (18 vice 12 weeks). Furthermore, RPC focuses only on those essential platoon commander learning objectives (I know my OC wasn't too impressed when I showed up in his company requiring additional training to become an RSO, whereas MITCIP did teach that). Compared to regular force training however, their is a difference (9 week CAP, 50 day phase 3). "
Fair comment on my use of a cop out like "the powers that be". I am sensitive to the fact that the pressure for this change may have come from the reserve side of the house. Please bear with me on my long post, I do have a point.
To to clarify my description of MITCIP, yes it was split up into 2 week blocks. BOT 1 and BOT 2 and BAOT were each two weeks long. BCT was also subdivided into three two week blocks (BCT 1,2 and 3). Keep in mind however that if a person only did one two week block per year, it would take six years for them to become MOC qualified.
RAOTP courses can also be broken down into blocks. As of this year, the Infantry School has stopped offering the 5 week reserve BOTP. Candidates are now required to do a reserve NCM BMQ with a five day leadership package added. Reserve Brigades almost exclusively offer this course as a weekend package. CAP (Common Army Phase) can be taken as in three two week blocks as well (two and a half really). Lastly RPC (Reserve Platoon Commander's Course) can be taken in four two week blocks. In this case, to take CAP and RPC in two week blocks at a rate of two weeks per year would take seven years, with BOTP being taken over the weekends in an candidate's first year. Of course, this process could be accelerated by taking more blocks in a year.
These programs are civilian career friendly in the sense that they are modularized training, but a prospective officer with a busy career would still have to commit large amounts of time to their training (possibly jeopordizing their livelyhood), or spend a number of years as an untrained officer.Whether we are talking about RESO, MITCIP or RAOTP, this is the reality. To speak to the high attrition of RESO candidates, I would assert that there is was a balancing effect between the high training failure rates in RESO, and the number of MITCIP officer candidates who simply never finished their training because they could not find the time.
Consider the demographics of the reserve cadre of junior officers (I hesitate to "spit ball" here but I believe that my generalizations are illustrative. Feel free to contradict me on them). I will assert that the of the untrained officers that sign on in reserve units, 1/2 are either university students or for some other reason, able to dedicate time to long courses (self employed, flexible job, etc), and the other half have careers, that consequently prevent them from taking such courses. The university students could take regular force courses, or simply take their "Blocks" back to back. Taking courses of these type of courses one block at a time though, can be very discouraging and many people who train in this way do not complete their training. To take the example of the Reserve Infantry Platoon Commander's course in 2003 (here I am not guessing), of the 80 or so candidates only about 10% (perhaps 8 nationally) were actually taking it one block at a time, excepting medical RTU's or training failures who chose pick up where they left off. The remainder were there (or at least tried to) for the duration. So by this point in training, the demographic has shifted significantly in favour of the "young" crowd.
Next, consider that the "university student/flexibly employed/young" group (as has been mentioned by others here) has tended to "jump ship" to the regular force, apparently leaving their reserve units in the lurch. Personally, I like to see that as more of a natural transition that should be encouraged, it is all "one army" after all (though the issue of who pays for that officer's training is a valid one. Perhaps units could be re-imbursed for trained officers that they send to the regular force). A RESO trained officer could transition to the regular force fairly easily, while an RAOTP officer, though the jury is still out on this, must repeat the bulk of his training. Clearly, this a prime example of a waste of valuable, and scarce training resources. In my mind, the army as a whole would be better off training members once (officer or NCM).
Suddenly, my point emerges.
If the intent of the DP system is followed in the case of RAOTP and it is possible for reserve officers to make up the training "Delta" to become qualified to regular force standards, then the system is ideal. Training is not repeated for those who want to transition to the regular force, the system is modularized to keep the door open for "mature" officer candidates, and most importantly, it creates a uniform standard of training for reserve officers. To the best of my knowledge though, this intent is not being followed through. The party line appears to be the courses such as RPC+delta training does not equal regular force phase three and that the course must be repeated.
To summarize, if the "delta" can truly be made up then RAOTP system is great. If not, then regular force training should be again offered to those reserve officers who have the time.
Too bad, the plan was great, but we don't seem to be following through.
Was this the case? cheers, mdh
