PCM’s MAT Kosovo on the Future of Training and Specialist Education
PCM’S MAT KOSOVO’S TAKE ON THE FUTURE OF TRAINING &HOW WE, AS A SPECIALIST TRAINING PROVIDER, CONTINUE TO DEVELOP OUR TRAINING PRODUCT’S
The very best training nowadays tends to borrow from both traditional and modern, flexible schools of thought. Traditional training has rightly anchored itself in process and technical fundamentals. By contrast modern training goes further, placing emphasis on flexibility and the ability to operate effectively across an ever-shifting threat landscape. It’s the difference between teaching how to accomplish complex tasks, versus training how to achieve complex objectives.
This shift is reflected also in modern military training, and in many other walks of life. As different as they may sound, (i) the fashionable “leadership coaching” industry, (ii) new ways of crowd-sourcing innovation (not least in OSINT), and (iii) bottom-up processes of battlefield innovations, to name but a few examples, are driven by one and the same shift: from a “need to know” structure to the more modern world where information flows in ways that are organically, almost self-organised. This forces us, as an industry, to ask difficult questions about how we design and deliver training that stands up to a world where information and innovation flows in the way it goes — and whether what worked in the past is fit for the challenges ahead. Alongside all of this there are other shifts too, such as compressed timelines along which new threats and enemy tactics appear, and an international funding environment which has come under sustained pressure from competing funding needs.
All this means we can no longer afford to do things the way they have always been done. We have to train for an operating environment that is, almost paradoxically, both more streamlined and more flexible at the same time.
We can’t just take a well-used product off the shelf and deliver it to students. Training in this arena does not (and should not) work like that. For sure it has to be on topic and on brief but it also has to be relentlessly updated and tweaked to always be relevant; to look far into a future that is often fogged by current events and events outside of any of our control.
Challenges in any country with a significant ERW threat vary in many aspects, but the end game is always the same – the release of contaminated land and critical infrastructure, made safe, back to communities. Priorities for returning populations, international agencies and perhaps even the affected country’s government don’t always align. The way we conduct training needs to acknowledge this and be suitable and sufficient to develop progressively into the evolving lifecycle of any national programme.
Standards:
The IMAS standard is here to stay — and for good reason. Each country's National Mine Action Standard (NMAS) derives from it, and while training requirements vary from one NMAS to the next, IMAS provides the globally accepted baseline from which all of that work flows and which is widely accepted by NMAA’s globally. It is a globally recognised standard which is always evolving and improving, and in more advanced disciplines it maps across to other recognised frameworks such as STANAGs — giving it real reach and credibility across the sector.
You can always improve the wheel, but reinventing it from scratch will never pay off. The job of creating all-encompassing standards is daunting enough as it is. IMAS gives us the foundations, the skeleton, and the scaffold; you can quickly build on it, and add your own muscle to the bone. The task is to build on it intelligently, organically, incrementally, not to start from scratch. First proposed in 1996 and issued by UNMAS in March 1997, IMAS has never stood still and has always evolved with intent and for the better. It continues to adapt to the changing threats and operational realities it is designed to address.
Training considerations:
The very best training has to take into account (a) those being trained (b) the location where they will operate, (c) their role, and (d) what equipment they have now and will have in future. From that derive questions about the training infrastructure: Is it sufficient for the delivery of the particular training? Is it sufficiently equipped to support both theoretical learning and practical demonstrations and hands-on scenarios? Those undergoing the training need to be cared for to a level where the training can happen without outside distractions influencing the students while they learn the art of HMA and its many disciplines. And while it may seem blatantly obvious that the infrastructure and the environment are critical in supporting optimal training outcomes, one still cannot actually overstate the relevance of these
Technology:
Understanding new technology and systems and how they improve and assists the survey and clearance process is also critical. Today, with technology evolving at an ever-accelerating pace, there is a real challenge in how to keep up with it. In a training process sense, technology is often tackled as an afterthought often because those delivering training don’t have a firm grasp on the technology or its effective use. There are often misperceptions that good technology has to be expensive. This is more often wrong than right, and the truth is there is a somewhat negative correlation between the most universally applicable technology often being simple and cheap, and the most expensive technology having a scope of use that is very specialised and narrow. Thus, it is not automatic at all that useful technology is necessarily expensive. EOD weapons are a great example: some of the most widely used ones are quite easy to make at home.
Since we’re talking about ‘tech’ I find an often-neglected area in our industry is that of research & development and test & evaluation of tools and systems. The discipline of evaluating either new technology or indeed improving current systems to their optimum effectiveness lacks commitment, especially from the side of the industry practitioners. Our priorities need to change to better embrace this valuable skill and exercise because, if we’re not careful, any fear generated by failed use of new technology, either yet to come to market or recently on the market, will suffer from the same mistrust, current day ‘old dog new tricks’ attitudes and either not get adopted or not be used to the best of its capabilities. Again, complexity is the enemy of client take-up here, and to ensure technology gets tested and, therefore, ultimately, trusted by the industry, it has to be only as complex as absolutely necessary, which means as simple as possible. Then there can really be no excuse for not testing it and getting familiar with it in all kinds of different scenarios and applications and approaches.
The future of training must embrace current and future technology. Experience and cold logic tell us that evolving threats are almost always driven by technological advances. It is unavoidable, therefore, that in defeating any ‘threat tech’ one must employ some advanced technological systems and methods. Keeping up with the technology curve is an absolute must. To illustrate the point, PCM MAT Kosovo are launching a Counter Unmanned Aerial Systems, Missiles and Guided Weapons course to cater to the evolving threat across both Ukraine in recent years and most recently in the Middle East.
Understanding Training Environments:
Fundamental to any training success is an understanding of the environment in which trainees will conduct operations once trained. Is it permissive, semi-permissive or non-permissive? As recent conflicts have shown, our colleagues in the industry can become a target themselves when doing what was already a difficult and hazardous occupation. Events can go from bad to worse and we must train for that.
Training needs to be as real as possible. Realistic practice exercises promote engagement and therefore effectiveness. Its authenticity improves when it includes operational accountability, expectations, context, scenarios and outputs. To that end, securing the right personnel – individuals who come with impressive practical backgrounds gained in the field and, importantly, individuals who can translate this knowledge and experience into innovative training techniques – is a real win. At PCM MAT Kosovo we offer some ‘colourful’ and highly specialist courses alongside our IMAS-compliant courses. Securing the very best people to teach these courses is a rare and valuable thing, and customers know and understand quickly whether they are facing a world authority in a given field or not
A useful way to think about the organisation of training is through a taxonomy of performance — framing all training activity as either a) maintaining performance or b) improving it. Performance itself can be measured across three areas: method, process, and device or system.
Maintaining performance covers understanding the task, operating the equipment, and troubleshooting when things go wrong whereas improving performance means advancing existing practices or inventing new ones altogether.
It sounds straightforward — and in principle it is. The problem is that organisations frequently provide support and resources pitched at one level while expecting their people to perform at another, often without recognising the gap they have built in. That disconnect between what is invested in learning and what is actually demanded in performance is one of the most fundamental and persistent challenges in training design. Acquiring knowledge and delivering trained performance are not the same thing — and confusing the two is where many programmes can fall apart.
People:
Above everything else are the people. The people who will ultimately step forward or indeed continue to step forward. Be the boots on the ground, facing the threat and dealing with it in the safest way possible. Fewer annual get-togethers. Gone are the days of soirees at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and back slapping in suits. More emphasis on the ground, the people and the threat.
Therefore, and in my humble opinion, the future of training is simple:
Well trained people trained specifically to the threat and their role in countering and neutralising that threat. People equipped and trained with the right equipment for their operational tasking. People with good and decisive operational management training to lead operations locally, country wide with good cooperation regionally, where sharing more expensive assets adds to efficiency.
In a nutshell:
The best possible training should be consistent, enjoyable and be of a sustainable routine. It needs to be balanced and tailored to individual needs and have definite goals. Focus should be on gradual, achievable progress, proper technique and have recovery motives. This builds long term habits.
The antithesis of this, (the worst training) can be summed up as training that is sporadic, includes painfully complex routines and ignores key components. A one size fits all approach that ignores personal differences, over training and the lack of planned and thought-out progression.
Delivering the best possible training takes significant effort. Given the severity of the consequences of getting it wrong, the quality of training delivery is one of the most significant factors standing between a training organisation and optimal performance in the field. That does not mean good training has to cost a fortune. But it does require time, proper resources, and serious planning. There are no shortcuts worth taking.
Training Partnerships:
A further enhancement to training course development is to look towards partnerships with leading educational establishments or NGOs to add value, credibility and confidence. Either to existing courses or to offer new courses where one’s expertise is used to compliment an adjacent specialism. I encourage this at PCM MAT Kosovo and, to this end, we have a number of valued partnerships around the world.
Our latest training partnership – something we celebrated in April this year - was with CISR (Centre for International Stablisation and Recovery) at James Madison University. CISR has a distinguished 30-year record in post-conflict management education, leadership development, organisational training, and mine action research and policy formation. For us at PCM and MAT Kosovo, our organisations clearly share a purpose. The synergies to deliver jointly developed courses to professionals and organisations who operate in this space were obvious to us and to CISR.
Military and Security Forces outsourcing training needs:
Military organisations have historically been able to invest heavily in building their own training infrastructure — drawing on operational experience, institutional knowledge, and defence budgets where money is – relatively speaking - no object. Most organisations in our industry do not have that luxury. Planning and delivering training against a constantly evolving set of standards is a genuine barrier — not just to training being done well, but to it happening at all.
It so happens many militaries and security forces globally are now contracting civilian organisations to provide their technical training, given the fact that budgets are being cut down and continuity of knowledge within these formations is reduced. The private sector, it is perceived, provides a more cost effective and sensible way to have the most up-to-date training possible, when it’s required, and not having to pay for it when it’s not. This shift to private-sector training suppliers will only continue and increase, for exactly these reasons.
Training Infrastructure and Cost-Effectiveness at PCM MAT Kosovo:
PCM MAT Kosovo’s EOD & ERW Training Centre took years in the making. Years of deliberate design, equipment acquisition, and infrastructure development specifically matched to the training need. What exists there now is genuinely rare – perhaps unrepeated anywhere else in the humanitarian training sector.
A fully residential facility with purpose-built training infrastructure, the right equipment on hand for every scenario, and — uniquely — live demolitions on live fuzed ordnance natures with our partner Poliex close by, so that training in a myriad of final disposal on live fuzed ordnance is as close to the real thing as it is possible to make it. Well it is the real thing after all!
Not to forget transport, security, visa assistance, airport transfers, accommodation, three meals a day, and yes, laundry and primary medical care all on site. The details matter because the details are what allow the students to focus entirely on training, without distractions.
To replicate what PCM has in its MAT Kosovo EOD & ERW Training Establishment would take years, cost a small fortune and even then it would not benefit from its past performance, client list and its capacity to deliver up to three full courses in parallel at any given time.
As with many things in this life, in our industry and others – the bottom line is almost always cost.
A purpose-built training venue, which is fully equipped and fully residential, which is open and available for the provision of the very best training, uniquely we provide exactly that very training solution for our clients. There is no doubt what we provide is a far more cost-effective option for agencies to send their people to attend our ‘pay per seat’ courses, which are scheduled up to two years in advance, easy to plan for and attend when it suits the individual. We have done the math, and we know that what we provide at our purpose-built facility comes out on top when it comes to value and quality.
Training Certification, External Accreditation and Referencing Legitimacy:
Our certification is recognised globally, each of our graduates have a unique personal number and are issued with an Operators Logbook, Notebook and Qualification Card, each course is also externally accredited and validated by the Open College Network (OCN). To guard against fraudulent use of certification this unique number allows agencies to reference any applicants to their programmes for legitimacy, we provide this reference service 24-7.
Client Bespoke Training – Training to Suit Individual Client Needs:
On occasion our clients prefer to block book a course specifically for their own organisation’s personnel. We welcome that, and we have the capacity at the school to accommodate multiple courses running side by side. We welcome client’s full involvement, from training delivery to course content, and course QA and QC.
On the road - A deployable training solution is also something we offer our clients, when they cannot get their people to us, we deploy a cadre to their own location, we build a temporary training facility at client project locations, conduct the training, and then leave.
The future of Training:
The future of training will not be defined by any single breakthrough. It will not be miraculous and there are no silver bullets. Progress will continue to mean steadily improving efficiency and effectiveness. The integrated systems we rely on are here to stay, while emerging technology will incrementally improve what we do operationally, making it safer — safer for the operators, and safer for the communities whose lives depend on the work we do.
A final word on the future of training in our industry is about understanding and accepting that there are people and organisations that know a thing or two about their subject matter area. Acceptance of this and cooperation is essential to stop any toxicity, driven by old grudges of the few rather than the need for a professional approach to the benefit of the many. The industry has to be more efficient and creative in how we go about training, as that way it becomes an attractive proposition rather than a nuisance.
I recall the military term ‘survive to fight’. That sentiment could well relate to times when funding is not as abundant as it used to be and where we must be efficient and resilient to continue to do what we do. We must ensure resources are suitable and not excessive, use the right kit for the job and not have expensive equipment gathering dust.
In my opinion what sets us apart and what has allowed us to survive through the turbulent global pandemic of 2020-2022 is we care about our people, and we care about those people we deliver training to, we feel responsible. This along with concentrating on the training people need, not on what they don’t need – it really is that simple.
To Emphasise the Need to Evolve Training to Match Emerging Threat – We Introduce a New Course Offering from May 2026 to Meet the Evolving Industry Need:
C-UAS-Missile-Guided Weapons Course at PCM’s MAT Kosovo:
In response to the emerging post-conflict threat in the Middle East and Ukraine, this programme is designed for intermediate and advance EOD Operators to safely conduct reconnaissance, categorisations, and render-safe of technical munitions and their component parts. This includes finding, assessing, and neutralizing UAS, Missiles, and GWs.
The course can be run at a client's preferred location or at PCM’s MAT Kosovo Training Centre. The pre-requisite for attending this course is an intermediate to advanced EOD qualification (IMAS EOD Level 3 or 3+ or equivalent).
Upon completion of the course, participants will be able to safely locate, assess, categorise, and render safe technical munitions and their component parts, including UAS, missiles, and guided weapons.
This article is dedicated to our dear colleague Stuart ‘Stu’ Burgess, who passed away in Kosovo on the 24th March 2026 after a short illness. Stu was an SME at the MAT Kosovo EOD & ERW Training Establishment. A former RAF Armourer (as he liked to keep telling everyone) and a significant character, a fountain of knowledge on Air Dropped Weapons, Fuzes and Guided Weapons. Always the student’s favourite, Stu had a story for all occasions and cared about those he taught. In the above image Stu can be seen on the range, somewhere he loved to be while passing on the benefit of his experience and knowledge to others. RIP Stu Burgess 06/06/1968 – 24/03/2026.
