Educational support for the managerial activities of military officers

Although military affairs are very diverse in nature, there are some characteri­stics that are common to all of them, those being managerial activities. The managerial role is an integral part of the military profession, meaning that the military officer is at the same time a manager. Today, every work environment, and that includes organisations such as the military, requires a proactive manager with strong competencies - a manager who is learning on an ongoing basis. This was the context for the intent behind this research, to take stock of the 'military officer as manager' and determine his needs for educa­tion in support of the performance of managerial activities and roles. Using a standardised, purposely adapted needs-assessment instrument on a sample of military officers, data were collected and then processed using descriptive statistics and factor analysis methods. Empirical support was obtained for the initial hypothesis on the expression of educational needs in officers, as borne out by the following results: 24 activities (out of 33 offered) had an average value, which indicated the expression of a need for educational support in order for them to be successfully conducted. Six factors were singled out which indicated a need for education in support of the performance of six managerial roles.