- Board question
What is an after action review, and what are its four steps?
An AAR is a structured professional discussion of an event that lets the participants work out for themselves what happened and how to improve. The four steps are plan, prepare, conduct, and follow up. The follow-up is the part units skip and the part that produces the improvement.
- Board question
What is the difference between a formal and an informal after action review?
A formal AAR is planned and resourced in advance with a scheduled time, a site, training aids, and an outside facilitator or observer. An informal AAR is conducted on the spot by the leader on the ground with whatever is at hand, right after the action, and is the kind Soldiers see most often.