Rehearsal and Learning Loops in Military Command

Military command does not only coordinate action in the present. It also proceduralizes anticipation before action and structured learning after it. The recurring forms for that work are the rehearsal and the after-action review [@fustvance2022; @tmdtc2025].

Rehearsal as anticipatory coordination

Fust and Vance argue that rehearsals improve shared understanding, synchronization, and freedom of maneuver because they let commanders and subordinates test the plan together before contact [fustvance2022]. That makes rehearsal more than a briefing. It is a procedural form that forces a distributed organization to confront sequence, timing, and likely breakdowns while there is still time to adapt.

AAR as formalized learning

Recent Army training guidance treats after-action reviews as central to leader development and unit improvement rather than optional reflection [@tmdtc2025; @tmdtcseries2026].

The loop matters more than either part alone

The strongest command organizations do not choose between rehearsal and review. They connect them. Rehearsals surface assumptions that can be checked during execution. AARs then identify which assumptions held and which procedures must change.

Sources

• Have We Forgotten the Rehearsal?
• TMD Publishes Training Circular to Augment FM and ADP 7-0
• The Training Management Directorate underneath the Combined Arms Command-Training completes TC 7-0 series 1-4