How can soldiers and units maintain their training proficiency?

Maintaining training proficiency is crucial for soldiers and units to ensure readiness and effectiveness. Sustainment training refers to the ongoing training that soldiers and units engage in to maintain their skills and knowledge over time. This type of training is designed to ensure that the competencies developed through initial and subsequent training are not lost and can be utilized effectively when needed.

Sustainment training helps reinforce skills, adapt to new challenges, and keep up with the evolving tactics and technologies in military operations. It is systematic and structured, providing opportunities for regular practice, assessments, and improvement, which are essential for readiness.

While online simulations can be part of training, they do not solely guarantee proficiency unless supplemented with practical, hands-on training. Relying only on training during conflict is inadequate since soldiers need to be prepared in advance, and reducing training frequency may lead to skill deterioration, making units less effective when deployed. Consequently, sustainment training is the best option to ensure ongoing proficiency and combat effectiveness for soldiers and units.