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What is missing in Military Officer Training?

Understanding the nervous system is key to being an effective leader - hear's why.

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What is missing in Military Officer Training when it comes to understanding the nervous system?

It was in 2005 that I graduated from Royal Air Force Cranwell as a newly commissioned Officer. The training I experienced was both physically arduous and mentally challenging. We also learned to work as a team and of course lead teams. Now I work as a Chronic Pain Coach, having suffered Chronic Back Pain, and I now fully understand the role of the nervous system. There is one thing I wish the military better understood, is how our nervous system works and what happens when we don’t work in harmony with it.

The nervous system is constantly scanning for messages of threat or safety.  It’s default setting is threat because because our survival depended on it. When the brain perceives a threat, it shifts the body into protection mode.  What does this look like physiologically;

• Muscles tighten
• Stress hormones rise
• Vigilance increases
• Digestion and recovery reduces
• Pain increases because Pain is protective

Military training, from my experience, already does an excellent job of developing leadership capability and understanding human behaviour. I remember learning about the Belbin Team Roles and SDI (Strength Deployment Inventory), how to achieve peak rapport and understanding Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to better understand team dynamics, communication styles and leadership under pressure.

But looking back on it now through a lens of pain neuroscience, I believe it is missing something – understanding how the nervous system responds to threat.

Recently I listened to a webinar where they explained the SCARF model by David Rock from NeuroLeadership. It stands for:

• Status
• Certainty
• Autonomy
• Relatedness
• Fairness

The brain responds to these as physical threats which can reduce cognition, reduce capacity and creativity and can trigger things like pain which can lead to chronic pain if not fully understood or made aware of.

When you think about it, the military environments contain all five of these in abundance:

• Hierarchy and status
• Uncertainty
• Reduced autonomy (orders culture)
• Strong group belonging
• Fairness and justice

All of these can drive exceptional performance, but chronic activation of one or more of these can leave the nervous system in chronic threat mode that can in turn lead to:

• Burnout
• Chronic pain
• Fatigue
• Hyper-vigilance
• Anxiety
• Reduced cognitive function

Understanding the nervous system is not about making people “soft” but about optimising human performance using science.

Let me give a few examples under the SCARF principles:

Status

Military culture is built around rank and hierarchy (for good reason). However, for some individuals, identity and self-worth can become closely tied to performance, competence and status.  This one is also closely linked to Identity.

Certainty

Frequent moves, changing roles and operational uncertainty can be highly activating for the nervous system, even when someone seems outwardly resilient. The nervous system fears the unknown.

Autonomy

Military environments rely on orders, structure and discipline. While this supports operational clarity, and reduces decision fatigue – some individuals may experience a lack of control as highly threatening. This may be a result of childhood experiences.

Relatedness

This is the feeling we get when we are part of a group or a tribe. As humans we thrive on social connection and feeling like we belong. When we belong in a group our nervous systems feel safe and supported. The military creates incredible belonging and camaraderie. But this is why many people struggle when they transition out to civilian life. They don’t just lose a job, but a tribe and identity.

Fairness

Life just isn’t fair is it? That feeling of inequity can fill us with rage and anger, which are very common emotions linked to threat state and therefore linked to chronic pain. Once we acknowledge unfairness and our anger associated with it, it is important to release and process it in a safe way.

A leader who understands threat physiology can:

• Recognise when their team are not performing optimally and wonder why
• Communicate more effectively under pressure
• Reduce unnecessary stress activation in the work place
• Improve recovery and resilience
• Support performance longevity
• Better understand persistent pain and stress related symptoms to support a quicker recovery.

I genuinely believe nervous system education should form part of modern leadership development and military officer training, especially as we continue to navigate our human bodies through this modern hustle culture. When we understand how the brain and body responds to threat and what those threats are, we can build leaders who are not only operationally effective – but physiologically sustainable too.

I’d love to explore delivering workshops or talks on nervous system regulation, persistent pain, fatigue and human performance within leadership and workplace settings.

Pain itself can threaten every element of the SCARF model:

• Pain takes identity and status
• It creates uncertainty
• It reduces autonomy
• It isolates people
• And it can feel deeply unfair – why me?

I know this because I experienced it. Can you relate?

Which of the SCARF pillars would be a trigger for you? For me it would be Status closely followed and Fairness.