Predeployment Collective Training under lockdown: lessons learnt from the COVID-19 pandemic

Completing meaningful and high-fidelity Collective Training during the COVID-19 pandemic presents an entirely new set of challenges to both the Chain of Command and supporting medical assets. Under Project PHOENIX, the Field Army will gradually phase the return of Collective Training, starting with Deployed Operation Force Generation. This article describes the personal experiences and challenges faced by 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards Battle Group and the Mission Training and Mobilisation Centre to enable the Operation SHADER 11 Mission Rehearsal Exercise, the first Collective Training the Field Army completed during the national lockdown.

Lao People’s Democratic Republic

At the request of the Bank of Lao, and in continuation of the FIRST TA project, this TA report provides advice towards implementing risk-based supervision (RBS). The BoL is in the process of implementing its risk-based approach to supervision to make the banking system more stable and sounder. This mission looked at the full cycle of onsite and offsite supervision process and provided advice related to applying the RBS manual, drafting and utilizing Institution Profile (IP) and Risk Assessment Summary (RAS), writing an effective examination report, the use of a risk-based approach to internal systemic reporting, and developing a supervisory response framework. The bulk of the mission time was spent on formal hands-on training sessions. During the mission, training was provided to BSD staff in small group discussions, and a more formal seminar was organized for all offsite and onsite BSD staff, which focused on reviewing the underlying RBS concepts and the elements of RBS manuals.