Assessment starts the training planning process and sets the course for unit training.

The Start of Training Planning: Why Assessment Comes First in AR 350-1

Think of Army training planning like charting a course before a march. You don’t just move out and hope the pace, terrain, and tempo line up with what you want to achieve. In the Army, the Training and Leader Development framework laid out in AR 350-1 starts with a precise, honest look at what’s needed. That first step—assessment—sets the direction for everything that follows.

Let me explain what assessment actually means in this context. It’s not a quick gut check or a hunch. It’s a deliberate process of gauging current capabilities, identifying gaps, and understanding the environment where training will happen. You’re evaluating people, teams, and systems—how well they perform now, what skills are already solid, where risk sits, and what the mission or tasking requires next. It’s about intelligence, but the kind you gather from soldiers, leaders, and data instead of from maps alone.

What exactly gets evaluated?

• People and teams: Are soldiers proficient in essential tasks? Are leaders able to give clear direction and maintain control under pressure? Are teams coordinating smoothly, or is information flow breaking down?

• Skills and knowledge gaps: Which tasks are performed reliably, and which need refinement? Where do competencies diverge from the standard the unit aims to meet?

• Environment and constraints: What training environments will you use? Do weather, terrain, or equipment limitations shape how training can be conducted? What resources (time, money, space, facilitators) are available?

• Objectives and expectations: What are the unit’s goals, mission-driven outcomes, and commander’s intent for training? How will success be defined and measured?

• Safety and risk: Are there hazards or procedures that require adjustments to ensure a safe, realistic, and effective training experience?

It’s helpful to think of assessment as looking at both the “inside” and the “outside” of training. Inside, you inspect people, skills, and readiness. Outside, you map the environment—the rhythms of the unit, the constraints, the schedules, and the resources that shape what you can do.

How does assessment actually happen in the field?

Assessment isn’t a one-size-fits-all exercise. It’s a structured conversation with data behind it. Here are practical ways units gather the truth about current conditions:

• Speak with those doing the work: talk with platoon leaders, NCOs, and frontline Soldiers. Their day-to-day experiences reveal gaps that might not show up in numbers alone.

• Review records and after-action feedback: look at training logs, safety reports, and feedback from recent events. Patterns emerge when you compare how tasks were performed across time.

• Observe performance in controlled settings: watch drills and scenario-based training with a critical eye. Note what’s repeatable, what’s inconsistent, and where confusion appears.

• Use multiple data sources: combine qualitative input (comments, concerns, ideas) with quantitative metrics (pass/fail rates, time to complete tasks, error rates). Triangulation makes conclusions stronger.

• Consider the environment: assess the drill space, weather windows, and equipment availability. Realistic conditions fuel meaningful learning, but realism must be balanced with safety and logistics.

A quick map you can carry into any planning session

• Current capability: what the unit can do today with confidence

• Gaps and deficiencies: what stands in the way of higher performance

• Training environment: where and when training can occur, and under what conditions

• Resources: people, time, space, and material support

• Objectives: what outcomes leaders want soldiers to achieve

• Safety considerations: any risks that require controls or changes

From data to action: what happens after the assessment stage

Assessment points you toward the rest of the training plan. After you have a clear read on the starting line, the next steps typically unfold in a logical chain:

• Evaluation: you measure outcomes after training to see whether the intended effects occurred. This isn’t about passing or failing a test; it’s about learning what worked and what didn’t to guide future work.

• Instruction: this is the delivery of training content—drills, hands-on practice, guided demonstrations, and embedded coaching. The instruction design should align with the gaps identified and the conditions you’ll face in real tasks.

• Preparation: you set up the environment, logistics, and leadership oversight needed to execute the training. This includes scheduling, securing equipment, and ensuring safety protocols are in place.

When assessment leads, the rest tends to be more focused and purposeful. The goal isn’t to check a box but to close gaps in a way that makes a real difference in performance and readiness.

Common pitfalls to watch for—and how to avoid them

• Skimming the surface: a quick look at “what’s not going well” can miss deeper, systemic issues. Take the time to drill down and verify your findings with multiple voices.

• Bias and echo chambers: rely on diverse perspectives. NCOs, junior Soldiers, medics, logisticians, and different platoons all see different sides of the same coin.

• Overemphasis on availability, not impact: it’s easy to schedule a lot of training, but if it doesn’t target the right skills or reflect real tasks, it won’t move the needle.

• Data without context: numbers tell part of the story. Combine data with narrative to understand why things happen and how to fix them.

• The trap of sameness: environments, tasks, and learners change. Your assessment approach should adapt to new missions, new equipment, and evolving doctrine.

A real-world lens: why this matters for leaders and teams

In Army training and leader development, assessment is practical and personal. Leaders use it to decide what to teach, who should lead the instruction, and how to allocate limited resources. It’s about clarity of purpose—knowing what “good performance” looks like and how to get soldiers there without guesswork.

Consider a unit that needs to improve navigation and collective movement under stress. An assessment might reveal that individual map-reading skills are solid, but teams struggle with communicating under fatigue. That insight points to a targeted mix: more realistic movement drills under limited visibility and enhanced communication practices during high-tempo scenarios. The plan then moves forward with aligned instruction and carefully timed preparation, always grounded in the initial assessment.

Why starting with assessment is a smart habit

• It makes training relevant: by pinpointing real needs, you avoid wasting time and resources on features that don’t move readiness.

• It helps leaders set meaningful, measurable outcomes: you’ll know when you’ve achieved the intended effects because you built the plan around concrete gaps.

• It supports safer training: understanding the environment and risks from the outset lets you design activities that are challenging yet safe.

• It builds trust: when soldiers see that planning starts with their feedback and the unit’s realities, buy-in follows naturally.

A practical starter checklist for unit leaders

• Gather input from diverse voices: talk with at least a few NCOs, a few junior soldiers, and a few staff officers.

• Review recent training records and safety data: identify patterns, not just one-off incidents.

• Map gaps to tasks that matter in the unit’s mission: focus where the highest risk or complexity sits.

• Check the environment and resources: confirm what you have and what you’ll need.

• Define clear, observable outcomes: what will success look like in measurable terms?

Let’s circle back to the big picture. In the AR 350-1 framework, the training and leader development pathway begins with assessment—the honest, comprehensive appraisal of where you stand and what your unit needs to learn or improve. From there, leaders translate findings into an actionable sequence of training activities, evaluations, and preparations that keep the unit moving forward with purpose.

If you’re immersed in this world, you know it’s less about ticking boxes and more about driving readiness. Assessment isn’t a one-and-done moment; it’s a disciplined habit you carry into every planning session. When you start there, you set a tone of intentional learning and responsible leadership that echoes through every drill, every mission, and every day on the line.

A final thought: training, at its best, feels like a well-aimed conversation between generations of soldiers—those who trained before and those who train next. The questions you ask, the data you collect, and the plans you craft all become part of a shared arc of improvement. And that arc, in the end, is what keeps soldiers ready to meet their duty with confidence and calm, no matter what terrain or tempo they face.