After Action Report (AAR) for P-0204 After Action Review

[TexasBEAST]

As a former member, I confess that I am not familiar with CAP's latest SQTR task requirements, but once upon a time GTL required P-0204: Conduct an After Action Review.

My K9 group recently asked me what I could come up with as far as AARs. I consulted several different military and civilian emergency response guides on the subject and came up with a list of the most commonly formats and ingredients. Then I went a step further and drafted a blank ICS-looking form template, complete with instructions.

I thought that this might be of use to anyone actually conducting an After Action Review discussion. It would give you a place to write down (or type in) your results, for future reference, in a clean format.

I do not have much IT-fu, so my command of form preparation software is weak. I just did this is in MS Office Starter, so I didn't have a lot of advanced features available to me. So understand if some of the formatting is still a little wonky.

This particular document is specifically geared toward ICS-style missions and operations. If it proves useful, perhaps a separate template could be developed for Cadet Program or SMPD events.

(Moderators, as I only recently joined CAPTalk (after years over at CadetStuff), my post count is still woefully low, and I cannot include an attachment. Could you help a bruthah out?)

[Holding Pattern]

This particular document is specifically geared toward ICS-style missions and operations. If it proves useful, perhaps a separate template could be developed for Cadet Program or SMPD events.

ICS 120.a provides a high level overview in part of it on AARs.

ICS 130 (which has 120.a as the prereq) goes into further detail.

The buzzword for google searches that should help you greatly is "HSEEP AAR/IP" or "HSEEP AAR-IP".

[Holding Pattern]

I just did this is in MS Office Starter, so I didn't have a lot of advanced features available to me. So understand if some of the formatting is still a little wonky.

I missed this on my first glance, as I've been running on an extra long shift. Examine techsoup.org to see if your group qualifies for any discounts for things like office software, or if your sponsoring organization already has an account.

[TexasBEAST]

ICS 120.a provides a high level overview in part of it on AARs.

ICS 130 (which has 120.a as the prereq) goes into further detail.

The buzzword for google searches that should help you greatly is "HSEEP AAR/IP" or "HSEEP AAR-IP".

While I haven't taken those particular courses yet, I have seen AAR examples that resembled the templates that pop up when I do that google search. And the problem that I see right off the bat is that those seem way unnecessarily long, verbose, and redundant. In the DHS HSEEP template, for example, there are 5 pages before you even get to the Table of Contents. The report template is so long that it takes a friggin' TOC!

Now, I understand that an AAR for a major disaster tends to be long enough that it could benefit from a TOC and/or index.

But for routine AARs, that's just overkill.

I'm trying to keep it simpler than that, while still covering what is actually needed. And that means trimming unnecessary verbage, as well as consolidating the same or very similar content into just one section of the report.

Why say the same thing 5 different times in different places in one report, for example?

Why have 4 pages of cover sheets and provisos before even getting to the TOC? Sure, it makes it seem fancy and formal. But it's also all so wasteful.

[NIN]

It needs to be printed on orange paper

[TexasBEAST]

It needs to be printed on orange paper

Hooah! 

Maybe use a line-art orange boonie hat for the pic on the cover page of the fancy-schmantzy DHS HSEEP version.

Funny you should say that...but the instructions on the back of an ICS 211 suggest that you color-code your sign-in sheets based on the type of resources being signed in, and fixed-wing aircraft really are supposed to be checked in on orange paper! (Go figure: Blue is reserved for rotary-wing AC.)

And strike teams and the like (e.g., CAP ground teams) are supposed to use green. So I print off all of my personal copies of the common ICS forms for strike team field use on light green Rite in the Rain paper: FEMA-kosher and water-resistant.

But you KNOW I really wanted to track me down some orange copy paper for that! 

With that in mind, I might submit a strike team AAR for a given work assignment/sortie on the same green RITR paper, too. But the final master consolidated incident-wide AAR should probably be done on plain white paper.

[Holding Pattern]

ICS 120.a provides a high level overview in part of it on AARs.

ICS 130 (which has 120.a as the prereq) goes into further detail.

The buzzword for google searches that should help you greatly is "HSEEP AAR/IP" or "HSEEP AAR-IP".

While I haven't taken those particular courses yet, I have seen AAR examples that resembled the templates that pop up when I do that google search. And the problem that I see right off the bat is that those seem way unnecessarily long, verbose, and redundant. In the DHS HSEEP template, for example, there are 5 pages before you even get to the Table of Contents. The report template is so long that it takes a friggin' TOC!

Now, I understand that an AAR for a major disaster tends to be long enough that it could benefit from a TOC and/or index.

But for routine AARs, that's just overkill.

I'm trying to keep it simpler than that, while still covering what is actually needed. And that means trimming unnecessary verbage, as well as consolidating the same or very similar content into just one section of the report.

Why say the same thing 5 different times in different places in one report, for example?

Why have 4 pages of cover sheets and provisos before even getting to the TOC? Sure, it makes it seem fancy and formal. But it's also all so wasteful.

Well, to start, I'm going to answer some of the whys.

We start with the fact that as in all things, there is the right way, the wrong way, and the military way.

Looking at the HSEEP we can immediately determine that the military way had its way with this document.

Page 1 is a cover sheet. Page 2 is intentionally left blank. This is done because new sections are supposed to start on odd numbered pages. Why not just increment the number and save a tree? Because if the document is classified, a page count would lead to fits and heart palpitations amongst those that need to know that the document has all of its pages. Page 3 is the handling instructions, which covers in detail its classification status, originating agency and POC which is needful for that silly classification stuff when it comes to reclassification, declassification, and sharing. Page 4 is blank because again, we need to start the next section on an odd numbered page.

Page 5 is the TOC.
-----

Anyhow, with that now explained, if you want a simple AAR, what you do is this. Print out the AAR TOC. Draw a line through anything you don't want.

If I was doing an unofficial AAR, this is how I would tear the template apart:

1. Discard the first 4 pages before the TOC.
2. After using it to build the template we will discard the TOC.
3. Dump the executive summary.
4. Dump the appendix.
5. For Section 1, Include a 5 sentence or less executive summary.
6. Dump everything in section 1 not applicable to your task. Rinse and repeat with Sections 2-4.

By this point you should be at about 5-6 pages. Further compression to about 3 pages can be done as you start ejecting formality with gusto.

That all being said, This would then just be an informal AAR document just for your team training and wouldn't be appropriate for actual ICS stuff. Remember that the entire idea of ICS is to provide a common hierarchy within which people can work together effectively. This extends to the AARs in that we need to make sure they are presented and prepared the same way across the board, especially as DHS keeps pushing the Lessons Learned - Information Sharing (hereafter LLIS) program. If we actually want to have AARs be useful not just for you and your team, but for other teams that may hit your pitfalls, they need to be consistent in formatting. LLIS has migrated to the Homeland Security Digital Library, so you can peruse it to find some IRL examples of what I am talking about.

This post was put together based on a lot of internet research, personal training, and 0 real world experience with any of it: Anyone with real world experience that can expand on any of it, please do.

[THRAWN]

Take a look at this. Simpler format, solid usable info. One thing that you want to remember is that your AAR needs to have valuable data that is usable in planning for your next event/response activity. Cut the government fluff, but keep the content. I've always been taught that AARs are scalable to the event. If there is a section of the master format that doesn't apply to you, don't include it. Much like ICS, use what you need and keep the rest for another time. That being said, best practice says to keep the doc intact, but notate N/A or N/O (not observable) in the sections that don't apply. Hope that's as clear as mud. This comes from just over 22 years of dealing with exercises, real world events, and just general government red tape...

http://www.in.gov/dhs/files/AAR-IP_Template_Apr-13-2_Clean.docx

[Holding Pattern]

Take a look at this. Simpler format, solid usable info. One thing that you want to remember is that your AAR needs to have valuable data that is usable in planning for your next event/response activity. Cut the government fluff, but keep the content. I've always been taught that AARs are scalable to the event. If there is a section of the master format that doesn't apply to you, don't include it. Much like ICS, use what you need and keep the rest for another time. That being said, best practice says to keep the doc intact, but notate N/A or N/O (not observable) in the sections that don't apply. Hope that's as clear as mud. This comes from just over 22 years of dealing with exercises, real world events, and just general government red tape...

http://www.in.gov/dhs/files/AAR-IP_Template_Apr-13-2_Clean.docx

I finally had a chance to look at that. I like that one. Thanks for sharing!

[Holding Pattern]

It needs to be printed on orange paper

For those, not in the know, why is this?

[SarDragon]

It needs to be printed on orange paper

For those, not in the know, why is this?

TB wears more orange than I do.

http://captalk.net/index.php?topic=18391.msg365650#msg365650