Modern air forces can be termed as high risk organizations even in peace time in the taxonomy of Charles Perrow (Perrow, 1999). The military context put a lot of pressure on the people especially in the sharp end of operations. The Norwegian Air Force Academy of Norway put a lot of resources in the education of cadets. The curricula is based on a mix of theory, practice and reflection (Steiro & Firing, 2009). The challenge is to get an appropriate mix of these factors and but it in a relevant context. The exercise is inspired by a Human Right concept of the Air Force Academy in Italy, where an air operation is simulated and cadets from different nations are challenged in San Remo to provide human rights answer to commanders in an air operation. The Royal Norwegian Air Force Academy scaffolded on the concept and created an own exercise for their cadets in Norway. The Norwegian version is based on joint international air operation to provide a nation from attacking group of citizens (UNAPO- United Nations Air Protecion Operation). The exercise is played out under a United Nations umbrella. However, points made in the exercise and expressed in this article must not be seen as the opinion of the United Nations. The exercise demand from the cadets to operate on paper in a complex environment, demanding heterogeneous competence and involving ethical consideration. The UNAPO exercise can therefore be seen as an example of Bennis and O´Toole (2005) suggestion for management training. The exercise is lasting for full days and ending in a wrap up and lessons learned on day five.
The objective of this paper is to investigate on the structure for learning and the learning outcome. The methods applied are observation of the exercise. In addition, a questionnaire was handed out to the cadets on the morning of day five in order to collect data and also, secondary as an input for further reflection (n=25). The questionnaire is taken from Berlin and Carlström (2015) focusing on:
- Collaboration
- Learning
- Usefulness
In addition, some questions from Torgersen and Steiro (2013). The article will present the exercise in detail and assess the learning outcome. It will link the learning outcome to relevant operations. It will also argue that such an exercise plays a valuable role in meeting demands for training managers (Bennis and O´Toole (2005). The article will not only document effects, but also look into means for improvement of the structure of the exercise and the learning output.