MATC

AKA Military Assistance and Training Command.

The Grand Alliance (and/or individual members) is going to need a rather extensive one in order to bring mutual defense treaty partners up to speed on modern Haven Sector LAC tech and multi-drive system defense missiles with Moriarty or Mycroft command and control systems.

Where do the trainers come from, how much training will they provide, how long will they stay in any given system, or any other thoughts....

Weird Harold wrote:AKA Military Assistance and Training Command.

The Grand Alliance (and/or individual members) is going to need a rather extensive one in order to bring mutual defense treaty partners up to speed on modern Haven Sector LAC tech and multi-drive system defense missiles with Moriarty or Mycroft command and control systems.

Where do the trainers come from, how much training will they provide, how long will they stay in any given system, or any other thoughts....

Nice question.

I think training should be a local thing to Manticore, or at least contained within one system. I don't think a possibly limited number of applicants, qualified to train, should go traipsing around from system to system. Other members of the Alliance should be willing to travel to one designated system to receive that training. The Miramar of the Honorverse. We all know the Manties are the Top Guns of LAC warfare. Truman and Scotty will head up the training after both spend stints at Bolthole to familiarize themselves with Havenite Systems.

Weird Harold wrote:AKA Military Assistance and Training Command.

The Grand Alliance (and/or individual members) is going to need a rather extensive one in order to bring mutual defense treaty partners up to speed on modern Haven Sector LAC tech and multi-drive system defense missiles with Moriarty or Mycroft command and control systems.

Where do the trainers come from, how much training will they provide, how long will they stay in any given system, or any other thoughts....

I would think that the LACs to be exported will be no better than the Cimmterre's that Haven used during Thunderbolt. Those will be adequate for most system defense, so most of your technicians can come from Haven. The same goes for system defense pods. You want to make them large enough that it will be extremely difficult to use them on a ship (to prevent incipient warlordism), so again Haven technology should be more than adequate, and prevents Manticore miniaturization tech from getting out any faster than absolutely necessary.

fallsfromtrees wrote:

Weird Harold wrote:AKA Military Assistance and Training Command.

The Grand Alliance (and/or individual members) is going to need a rather extensive one in order to bring mutual defense treaty partners up to speed on modern Haven Sector LAC tech and multi-drive system defense missiles with Moriarty or Mycroft command and control systems.

Where do the trainers come from, how much training will they provide, how long will they stay in any given system, or any other thoughts....

I would think that the LACs to be exported will be no better than the Cimmterre's that Haven used during Thunderbolt. Those will be adequate for most system defense, so most of your technicians can come from Haven. The same goes for system defense pods. You want to make them large enough that it will be extremely difficult to use them on a ship (to prevent incipient warlordism), so again Haven technology should be more than adequate, and prevents Manticore miniaturization tech from getting out any faster than absolutely necessary.

I agree with fallsfromtrees here. There is no point in spreading advanced Manticoran tech far and wide. Distribute a lighter version of Haven tech including Moriarity rather than Mycroft and then monitor closely how it is used and the threat level it faces.

Don

cthia wrote:I think training should be a local thing to Manticore, or at least contained within one system. I don't think a possibly limited number of applicants, qualified to train, should go traipsing around from system to system. Other members of the Alliance should be willing to travel to one designated system to receive that training. The Miramar of the Honorverse. We all know the Manties are the Top Guns of LAC warfare. Truman and Scotty will head up the training after both spend stints at Bolthole to familiarize themselves with Havenite Systems.

It's incredibly painful to take your best people and send them all somewhere for multiple years. You certainly can't effectively do that with a significant portion of your fleet, unless you are getting someone else's fleet to cover you're home system for a few years. Mobile training teams are a far more effective use of everyones time and money.

cthia wrote:I think training should be a local thing to Manticore, or at least contained within one system. I don't think a possibly limited number of applicants, qualified to train, should go traipsing around from system to system. Other members of the Alliance should be willing to travel to one designated system to receive that training. The Miramar of the Honorverse. We all know the Manties are the Top Guns of LAC warfare. Truman and Scotty will head up the training after both spend stints at Bolthole to familiarize themselves with Havenite Systems.

I was thinking more in terms of advisers/cadre sent to supervise installations of Moriarty or Mycroft systems and advise on placement and employment of LAC squadrons. That's the kind of assistance and training that can't be encompassed by a one size fits all "top gun" course in the Manticore or Haven system.

One thought in the back of my mind was the history of MACV -- the command of US Forces in Vietnam and the way it escalated from advisers to combatants. The US has had numerous "advisers" and "trainers" in numerous countries over the years with some courses conducted at US bases. (I went to technical school with four Iranians and two Turks in addition to the twenty or so Americans)

FWIW, I don't envision a single source for the equipment; one system might get Haven Lite, another Manticore Lite, another gets Bolthole Export Specials. That's why I think there will be twenty to one-hundred man adviser groups dispatched to each system getting military assistance.

kzt wrote:

cthia wrote:I think training should be a local thing to Manticore, or at least contained within one system. I don't think a possibly limited number of applicants, qualified to train, should go traipsing around from system to system. Other members of the Alliance should be willing to travel to one designated system to receive that training. The Miramar of the Honorverse. We all know the Manties are the Top Guns of LAC warfare. Truman and Scotty will head up the training after both spend stints at Bolthole to familiarize themselves with Havenite Systems.

It's incredibly painful to take your best people and send them all somewhere for multiple years. You certainly can't effectively do that with a significant portion of your fleet, unless you are getting someone else's fleet to cover you're home system for a few years. Mobile training teams are a far more effective use of everyones time and money.

I certainly see your very good point. Yet it is similar thinking that brought me to my conclusion. Because the people that will be qualified to train - Truman, Scotty, Foraker, etc., also can't afford to be off in some other system training during wartime.

The hosting system's ships should be used for training. And a core group of people could be sent to acquire knowledge and come back to pass it on. Which is what has to happen anyways if it is to trickle down to a given system's ever growing navy.

But, you could also be right. It'll certainly come down to logistics.

Edit:
You don't move the University, Saganami Island, to specific systems. You bring the systems to Saganami!

.

cthia wrote:I think training should be a local thing to Manticore, or at least contained within one system. I don't think a possibly limited number of applicants, qualified to train, should go traipsing around from system to system. Other members of the Alliance should be willing to travel to one designated system to receive that training. The Miramar of the Honorverse. We all know the Manties are the Top Guns of LAC warfare. Truman and Scotty will head up the training after both spend stints at Bolthole to familiarize themselves with Havenite Systems.

kzt wrote:It's incredibly painful to take your best people and send them all somewhere for multiple years. You certainly can't effectively do that with a significant portion of your fleet, unless you are getting someone else's fleet to cover you're home system for a few years. Mobile training teams are a far more effective use of everyones time and money.

cthia wrote:I certainly see your very good point. Yet it is similar thinking that brought me to my conclusion. Because the people that will be qualified to train - Truman, Scotty, Foraker, etc., also can't afford to be off in some other system training during wartime.

The hosting system's ships should be used for training. And a core group of people could be sent to acquire knowledge and come back to train. Which is what has to happen anyways if it is to trickle down to a given system's ever growing navy.

But, you could also be right. It'll certainly come down to logistics.

People like Scotty, Truman, etc will be engaged in Train the Trainer operations, not scooting off to other systems. That will be done by the people that they have trained, or even those who were trained by the people that they have trained.

This is a topic I actually know a bit about, as I work in Foreign Military Sales for the US Army.

There is a wide variety of training offered to foreign governments who buy our stuff (I am using US army terms, other services and countries may vary).

Technical Assistance Fielding Teams (TAFT): These are usually fairly large groups (20-80) folks deployed for up to 3 years to help integrate and train the buyers. Usually deployed 6 months before the foreign government receives the material, they concentrate on how best to use the stuff, how to maintain it, and how to interact with the seller (that's us) when things go wrong (and they will, they will). Some nations (more developed) do without, others keep them for extra years.

Mobile Training Team (MTT): Mentioned by Kzt, this usually is a small group of specialists that 'train the trainers' on-site in specialized areas over a short period (not to exceed 180 days). Good if you have knowledge of the system, but need updates in tactics and deployment.

Field Service Representative: Can be either Contractor of Government, acts as troubleshooter/liaison back to the seller (again, contractor or government). Training from them is usually OJT and not formal.

Classroom Training: We've seen a number of Grayson and other Alliance personnel at Saganami, and I expect maintenance, flight school, logistics, and other specialists would also be trained in the appropriate schools in Manticore. Those students needing additional help (language or technical) to catch up are put in classes prior to taking the specified training.

Contractor Training: Some companies offer specialized training on their systems, both operational and maintenance. Usually for a specific on-board system, these can be done at the manufacturers plant or in the buyer's location, if the necessary tools and equipment are available and can be easily transported there.

Simulator Training: I suspect both in Manticore and in other systems (Talbot), this is being used a lot. Run by either military or contractor personnel, it can hands-on train people with fewer instructors.

I am sure much of this framework, in one way or another, exists in the Honorverse...and as noted, will probably being expanding in the next few years.

We shall see...or not.

fallsfromtrees wrote:

cthia wrote:I think training should be a local thing to Manticore, or at least contained within one system. I don't think a possibly limited number of applicants, qualified to train, should go traipsing around from system to system. Other members of the Alliance should be willing to travel to one designated system to receive that training. The Miramar of the Honorverse. We all know the Manties are the Top Guns of LAC warfare. Truman and Scotty will head up the training after both spend stints at Bolthole to familiarize themselves with Havenite Systems.

kzt wrote:It's incredibly painful to take your best people and send them all somewhere for multiple years. You certainly can't effectively do that with a significant portion of your fleet, unless you are getting someone else's fleet to cover you're home system for a few years. Mobile training teams are a far more effective use of everyones time and money.

cthia wrote:I certainly see your very good point. Yet it is similar thinking that brought me to my conclusion. Because the people that will be qualified to train - Truman, Scotty, Foraker, etc., also can't afford to be off in some other system training during wartime.

The hosting system's ships should be used for training. And a core group of people could be sent to acquire knowledge and come back to train. Which is what has to happen anyways if it is to trickle down to a given system's ever growing navy.

But, you could also be right. It'll certainly come down to logistics.

People like Scotty, Truman, etc will be engaged in Train the Trainer operations, not scooting off to other systems. That will be done by the people that they have trained, or even those who were trained by the people that they have trained.

There is good precedent for this. Saganami has been used to train allied officers at least since the beginning of the first war with Haven and for Graysons even earlier.

Don