How Ukraine Transformed Training When Afghan/Iraq Lessons Proved Irrelevant

To use a well-worn cliche, the Ukrainian military has had to fly the plane while learning how to do so (in some cases, literally) - and under fire. NATO training was critical in building out a Ukrainian force based on Soviet era legacy to a NATO-standard organization adapting and deploying almost entirely new weaponry along with the doctrine and granular knowledge about how to operate it. For leadership, basic tactics and logistics as well as maintenance of complex weapons systems, this was not just helpful, it was essential.

But within a year, it became apparent that many NATO instructors were using their experience in Iraq, Afghanistan and other deployments against Al Qaeda or related opponents in the deserts and cities of the Middle East. This proved not to be relevant, or at least, not optimal, in the battle against heavily armed Russian units of professional soldiers. Ukraine has adapted by fusing NATO's guidance with the experience of their own soldiers on the frontline in Donbas, Kyiv, Kharkiv, Kursk, Zaporizhzhia and the war's other fronts. The result, as the world has seen, has been the stymying and disruption of the much larger and better equipped Russian military in ways that now make the Ukrainians the standard for contemporary battlefield performance. JL

Mick Ryan reports in The Interpreter:

How Ukrainian forces adapted and transformed their training has been essential to its capabilities. NATO played important roles in training Ukrainian forces in logistics, leadership, tactics, planning and maintenance of Western equipment. (But) the frame of reference for Western instructors is often Iraq and Afghanistan, which does not provide the foundation required for combat in eastern Ukraine. Combat since has provided insights to inform training, increasing focus on mental resilience, basic combat skills, medical and use or countering of drones. Battlefield lessons have rapidly fed back into training. Ukrainian units rotate through deployments and training, so the latest tactics and survival skills are disseminated for faster learning. 

The study of how Ukrainian forces have adapted, learned, and transformed their training regimes is a vital but under-examined element of this war, and war more generally. Ukraine’s military training system is foundational to its military capability. Studying it offers not only a window into Ukraine’s overall military capacity but also valuable lessons for Western nations that may need to expand their forces in the coming years.

The frame of reference for Western instructors is often Iraq and Afghanistan, which does not provide the foundational behaviours required for combat in eastern Ukraine.

Challenges

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine has faced multiple challenges to its training approach.

First, it has had to manage time constraints. The Russian military, vastly larger than Ukraine’s, drove the need for rapid expansion of the pre-war force. Limited time meant many important trade-offs had to be made in the quality of training. For a long period, basic recruit training was restricted to about one month, which often did not produce the resilient and capable soldiers required on the front line without additional training in their units.

Second, Ukraine has had to balance the key cultures that drive its military affairs: legacy Soviet systems and practices (especially intolerance of reporting failure, and centralised command methods); newer NATO methods and doctrines; and Ukraine’s own culture, both military and national. These often exist in tension and influence every element of Ukrainian military affairs, including its training systems.

Third, it has had to endure, to the present day, Russian attacks on its training institutions. These attacks are designed to kill soldiers in training and the experts that train them. The attacks are designed to have a psychological impact too, particularly in dissuading Ukrainians from joining their military.

Finally, the ability to learn and adapt at the speed of need has been a major challenge. In all my interactions with Ukrainian training staff, I have posed the question: how do you learn and adapt the training system? Their responses have consistently improved over time. However, learning and adaptation is a challenge for any training system, not just one that is at war.

Ukrainian Responses

In response, Ukraine has evolved its approach to training. This has involved a multitude of large and small initiatives over the past three years, all with the goal of ensuring that soldiers are provided with the training that allows them to be as resilient and combat capable as possible when they present to their combat units. Five important institutional responses stand out:

1: Adoption of NATO standards. Despite the relationship with NATO extending back to the late 1990s, the period since 2022 has seen the greatest surge in adoption of NATO doctrine, structures and standards. This has included structuring battalions and brigades around the NATO staff system, using NATO doctrine to underpin training, and an increasing emphasis on decentralised command and initiative at lower ranks.

Lessons learned on the battlefield have rapidly fed back into training curricula.

2: International support and partnerships. The United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and other NATO members have played important roles in training Ukrainian forces outside of Ukraine, providing expertise in logistics, leadership, tactical operations, planning and the maintenance of Western equipment. Operation Interflex, a UK-led program to which Australia contributes troops, is a key part of this “offshore” training approach. The frame of reference for Western instructors is often Iraq and Afghanistan, which does not provide the foundational behaviours required for combat in eastern Ukraine. Notwithstanding, these foreign training partnerships are critical for Ukraine’s military training.

3: Combat-focused training. Combat operations since 2022 have provided a myriad of insights to inform training and strip out less relevant elements. This has included an increasing focus on mental resilience, basic combat skills, medical training and the use or countering of drones. Lessons learned on the battlefield have rapidly fed back into training curricula. Ukrainian units routinely rotate through front-line deployments and rear-area training, ensuring that the latest tactics and survival skills are disseminated quickly and widely. It is not only institutional training facilities that benefit. Training conducted in brigades, which often occurs after recruit and specialty training but before allocation to a unit, remains vital.

Response 4: More simulation. Simulation has proven to speed up and improve training, and the Ukrainians have been keen to access simulators. This has happened more slowly than many in the training system would like. But the combination of new Western equipment being provided with simulators, and the development of indigenous training simulation systems, is beginning to have an impact.

5: Faster learning and adaptation. Despite ongoing challenges with gaining and sharing information on combat operations, the analysis of combat insights and their implications for training has improved over time. Not only has this seen changes in focus for basic training, as well as leadership development, it has also resulted recently in longer recruit courses (from one month to 51 days).

Continuous training transformation

Given the ongoing adaptation battle between Ukrainian and Russian forces, the learning and transformation of training plays a key role in ensuring Ukrainian military forces remain at the forefront of relevant combat capabilities. There remains much to learn from Ukraine’s ongoing process of training transformation. This includes the transition from a professional force to a mobilised force, the integration of new doctrines, the incorporation of foreign training systems, and the ability to learn how to adapt faster and better over time.

While Western nations may not seek to replicate every aspect of Ukrainian military training, the training transformation of Ukraine’s military does offer ideas and practical observations about how military organisations such as Australia’s might better prepare for the challenges of contemporary and future warfare.