More than 60 personnel attended in person, representing divisions, enabling brigades and other corps staff elements. The curriculum covered Russian military culture, unmanned aircraft systems, counter-drone operations, task organization, fires and other aspects of Russian warfare.
“This training, the Russian Way of War series, enables leadership development, but it also informs our warfighting,” said Maj. Tiffany Summers, III Armored Corps public affairs plans officer. “The more we learn, the more we develop our leaders, the more we can make sure that our warfighting is accurate, and it identifies all of the different techniques and ongoing, current threats in different theaters.”
The course was taught by instructors from the Russian Way of War program sponsored by U.S. Army Europe and Africa. The instructors study the Russian armed forces to explain the thinking behind their doctrine, tactics and operational decisions.
“Our mission assigned to us by U.S. Army Europe and Africa is just to make sure that U.S. forces, U.S. units, their commanders and their staffs understand the threat,” Donnelly said. “So they understand why Russia fights, why they fight the way they do, and then how they will fight.”
Donnelly served in the Army for 30 years and spent much of his career working in and around the former Soviet Union before retiring seven years ago. He said that experience continues to shape his work with the program.
The training also challenged participants to examine whether established U.S. military practices are always the most effective response to a changing battlefield. Instructors encouraged leaders to remain flexible and consider how an adversary may approach the same operational problem differently.
“One of the big takeaways for me in this course is just reinforcing the need to be flexible in our thinking,” said Maj. Kevin Zhang, III Armored Corps strategic plans officer. “The way we think things ought to work, and the way that we develop things and orders and operate as military professionals, is not always the only way.”
The series also asked participants to reconsider their assumptions about warfare and the environments in which they may be required to operate. “As professionals, we should always be striving to develop ourselves, learn more, understand the environment that we’ll be asked to operate in,” Zhang said.
The Russian Way of War program regularly updates its instruction and written material to reflect changes observed on the battlefield. “We track adaptations,” Donnelly said.
