IG course content

[CT57]

I am intrigued to know the different topics covered in the IG course. I understand that it is a year long which would take half the time for a two year posting. Are the length of posting longer at the RCAS?

 

[dapaterson]

IG is the equivalent of a pilot becoming a test pilot, but with a dorky hat instead of a leather jacket.

 

[SeaKingTacco]

I am intrigued to know the different topics covered in the IG course. I understand that it is a year long which would take half the time for a two year posting. Are the length of posting longer at the RCAS?

Why do you think a posting to the School would only be two years?

 

[markppcli]

Why do you think a posting to the School would only be two years?

Because they generally have been?

IG is the equivalent of a pilot becoming a test pilot, but with a dorky hat instead of a leather jacket.

Yeah if every pilot was obliged to become a test pilot as part of their regular career progression.

 

[SeaKingTacco]

Because they generally have been?




Yeah if every pilot was obliged to become a test pilot as part of their regular career progression.

Interesting.

School postings were generally 3-4 years.

 

[markppcli]

Interesting.

School postings were generally 3-4 years.

Well you generally used to have enough officers to have more than one foo in a regiment.

 

[CT57]

I taught that the IG course was not a career (obligatory) course for officers.

 

[SeaKingTacco]

I taught that the IG course was not a career (obligatory) course for officers.

It kind of depends on where you are in the stream.

 

[CT57]

Not all Majors in the artillery ( BCs, DCO, etc.) are IG qualified. What about those who did first ERE as RSS or NDHQ?

 

[FJAG]

I've been too long away from the RCA to speak knowledgeably about this but there are a few points true today as back in my day.

The key thing to remember is that if any given battalion or armoured regiment does things a bit differently from any other battalion then its no big deal. Artillery and engineers, however, are technical roles where everyone else expects that their support is carried out with some uniformity across the army. This is particulalry true of artillery whose biggest strength is to be able to mass fires from several regiments on a common mission. Standardization of practice matters.

IGs and AIGs are the gatekeepers of those standards. Essentially the courses teach all artillery skills, beyond those already learned as subalterns and FOOs (or their AD/STA equivalents) necessary to run a regiment, to fill artillery staff positions at all levels above regiment, and how to allow them to develop artillery doctrine and teach artillery skills to all ranks.

In my day neither the IG course nor the AIG course were a mandatory course but I never knew a CO or BSM who wasn't an IG or AIG. Since the IG course is given to captains, some, but not all majors are IGs. Again, in my day they would run one IG course and one AIG course per year with around a dozen candidates each (I note that in 2024 8 x IG and 10 x AIG students started the courses). Some graduates stayed at the RCAS to become instructors. Others left after that year to take up roles as OpsOs and RCPOs in the RCHA regiments. A few, who were already in the zone, might be promoted to major and would usually go to take over as battery commanders after the course.

Here are some extracts from an article that gives a few points on their roles.

As a result of their extensive training, they possess a sound technical and tactical knowledge, as well as an understanding of the artillery system as a whole. What is more, they are expert instructors, grasping how individual and collective training must be carried out to produce fully capable and efficient artillery units and sub-units. While other arms have capable instructors and knowledgeable officers, the IG is part of an institution unique to the Artillery. IGs have been incredibly valuable throughout the history of the RCA, ensuring uniformity and proficiency across the Regiment, and maintaining the abilities and effectiveness of units during times of conflict and peace.

Soon, there were enough IGs and AIGs that some could be spared for several weeks each year to observe a unit on exercise. In the 1960’s, these IG teams (consisting of one IG and several AIGs) would adopt the practice of producing an IG report: a formal report detailing the conduct of the exercise and the lessons that should be taken from it. This was a powerful tool for learning within the Regiment. Since the report was forwarded to the Director of Artillery and the Commandant of the RCSA, it also helped produce a ‘big picture’ of the effectiveness of the RCA, and maintain uniformity within the Regiment. There is no doubt that the IG was powerful in his role as author of an IG report, but the aim of these reports was improvement, not evaluation. The IG team came at the request of a CO. and the IG worked closely with the CO to plan how he would observe the Regiment and to provide feedback on what he saw. To this end, the IG would typically conduct daily de-briefs on how the exercise had gone that day and what the next day’s focus should be.

... in addition to producing IG reports, IGs and AIGs ensured that skills (from individual competence with equipment to division-level staff duties) were retained that could not easily be kept otherwise. This was vital in times of shortage, as maintaining a body of experts who “understood the overall artillery system” was an effective way of storing a vast body of knowledge in a limited number of personnel. LCol Reid recounts one such example where, upon his return to the School of Artillery as CIG, he was the only non-locating IC capable of operating the sound-ranging equipment in use. With the loss of the Anti Aircraft Artillery in Canada, knowledge in this field was retained by appointing field lGs as subject matter experts in Air Defence. This would suffice to keep some knowledge of this specialty alive. These IGs proved invaluable when Canada decided to build a Low Level Air Defence capability, until the first AD IG course was conducted in 1983. In this way, lGs acted as part of the Regiment’s institutional memory, and gave it the ability to adapt in a changing environment.

This institutional memory came to the fore at the beginning of this century when Canada revived the artillery surveillance and target acquisition (STA) system after decades of nonexistence. Only about a half a dozen IGs and AIGs retained these skills (mainly by having done the British IG and AIG courses) and were able to rebuild the specialty from scratch.

IGs and AIGs will be at the forefront of reviving divisional artillery and rocket artillery and air defence as well as incorporating many of the new technologies which are coming on line weekly.

 

[Lumber]

Well you generally used to have enough officers to have more than one foo in a regiment.

I'm a deputy instructor and I've worked for three different instructors in the past 3 years...

 

[Quabby]

I was a Fd IG at the RCAS. The IG course has likely changed a bit since I was there but at its core, you will refresh the prior courses (DP1.1/1.2/FOO) with a focus on both how you teach and assess them (lots of recce, and fire planning), get a healthy dose of arty science (ballistics, math, flight, etc), learn a lot about complex ranges and running courses, and then do the Arty Ops and BC courses.

Most people tend to spend 3 years at the school. The rare ones get 2, a few get more.

You don't need to be an IG to do well in the Arty but it doesn't hurt (4 out of the 5 COs right now are IGs). I will say that the IG course (and then being an IG after) really hones your understanding of the job. Both because you learn more of the why as well as just doing the job more. If you love doing artillery stuff, it is a great way to extend your time on the guns.

 

[OldSolduer]

I was a Fd IG at the RCAS. The IG course has likely changed a bit since I was there but at its core, you will refresh the prior courses (DP1.1/1.2/FOO) with a focus on both how you teach and assess them (lots of recce, and fire planning), get a healthy dose of arty science (ballistics, math, flight, etc), learn a lot about complex ranges and running courses, and then do the Arty Ops and BC courses.

Most people tend to spend 3 years at the school. The rare ones get 2, a few get more.

You don't need to be an IG to do well in the Arty but it doesn't hurt (4 out of the 5 COs right now are IGs). I will say that the IG course (and then being an IG after) really hones your understanding of the job. Both because you learn more of the why as well as just doing the job more. If you love doing artillery stuff, it is a great way to extend your time on the guns.

This. Not just learning the job but working in the environment after really does improve your skills and understanding.
Especially science related knowledge that is useful everywhere

 

[CT57]

Thank you for the comments and explanations.

 

[SeaKingTacco]

I was a Fd IG at the RCAS. The IG course has likely changed a bit since I was there but at its core, you will refresh the prior courses (DP1.1/1.2/FOO) with a focus on both how you teach and assess them (lots of recce, and fire planning), get a healthy dose of arty science (ballistics, math, flight, etc), learn a lot about complex ranges and running courses, and then do the Arty Ops and BC courses.

Most people tend to spend 3 years at the school. The rare ones get 2, a few get more.

You don't need to be an IG to do well in the Arty but it doesn't hurt (4 out of the 5 COs right now are IGs). I will say that the IG course (and then being an IG after) really hones your understanding of the job. Both because you learn more of the why as well as just doing the job more. If you love doing artillery stuff, it is a great way to extend your time on the guns.

I found that teaching itself is where I really learned the job.
If you cannot explain it in simple terms to someone else, you don’t really understand it yourself.

 

[OldSolduer]

I found that teaching itself is where I really learned the job.
If you cannot explain it in simple terms to someone else, you don’t really understand it yourself.

Bingo.

That’s when you really learn the job

 

[CT57]

Who teaches the course, experienced IGs and CIG?

 

[SeaKingTacco]

Who teaches the course, experienced IGs and CIG?

Yes, and AIGs.