DSAT, governance and capability — from someone who's served.
Specialist support for the Ministry of Defence, Defence Digital, DE&S, Front Line Commands and prime contractors — covering JSP 822, training governance, Training Needs Analysis, capability frameworks, readiness and learning assurance.
Built for Defence — at the enterprise and the front line.
DSAT and capability expertise, applied to your operating environment.
JSP 822 Expertise
Practical, current application of JSP 822 and the Defence Systems Approach to Training — without drowning teams in process.
DSAT Consultancy
End-to-end DSAT support, from analysis and design through to governance and assurance.
Training Needs Analysis
DSAT-compliant TNA that separates real training need from capability, structure and process issues.
Capability Frameworks
Multi-specialisation competency frameworks and skills mapping for assessment and workforce planning.
Training Governance
Audit-ready governance and clear decision rights across providers, sites and the training pipeline.
Readiness Assessment
Evidence-based assessment of whether people, roles and competencies are aligned to operational demand.
Learning Assurance
Assurance that learning is effective, compliant and defensible — supporting the mission, not just the inspection.
The thinking we bring to every Defence engagement.
The Golden Thread
One unbroken line from business need to business outcome. Read top to bottom, it is a design method; bottom to top, an audit tool. If an activity can’t be traced back to a performance requirement, why is it being done? From the book Training Isn’t Always the Answer.
The Should We Train? decision tree
One question, two branches, and a decision you can defend. If people could do it under ideal conditions, training will not fix it. From the book Training Isn’t Always the Answer.
The Capability Diagnostic
Eight places to look before you blame the people. Only one is primarily fixed by training, and most real performance problems have causes in two, three or four at once. From the book Training Isn’t Always the Answer.
One method, five stages, every engagement.
Understand
Agree the outcome, the context and what good performance looks like before anyone discusses solutions.
Diagnose
Gather evidence, separate symptoms from causes and test whether the problem is knowledge, skill, process, system, structure or something else.
Define
Turn the diagnosis into clear requirements: the performance, behaviours, capabilities and conditions the solution must deliver.
Intervene
Choose the interventions that close the gap. Sometimes that is training. Often it is a process, a tool, a role, a decision or a combination.
Prove
Measure against the baseline agreed at the start, so the organisation knows what worked and what to do next.
Experience across MOD, Royal Navy and NATO programmes.
Digital Skills for Defence
DSAT-aligned capability analysis, TNA and learning architecture for Defence-wide digital skills planning.
Defence Capability Framework Design
Consistent competency standards across specialisations, giving one trusted view of readiness.
NATO & Royal Navy Training Modernisation
A DSAT-compliant TNA that found where learners were failing, followed by targeted blended learning and coaching.
Active SC clearance, senior Royal Navy leadership, and DSAT specialism.
Common questions from Defence programme teams.
Current. DSAT and JSP 822 application is ongoing specialist work, not a historic qualification — I keep pace with how the policy is actually being applied and audited today.
Yes — this is exactly what the Senior Information Officer (SIO) Rapid TNA case study demonstrates. Used as a decision-support framework rather than a box-ticking process, DSAT can move fast without losing defensibility.
I hold Active SC clearance and am a former DV holder, and I'm comfortable operating in secure, regulated environments. If your programme needs a different level of vetting, tell me early and we'll work out whether that's achievable.
Either. Prelude can work directly with MOD teams or alongside prime contractors and Front Line Commands on specific capability, TNA and governance workstrands. Jason’s own Defence experience includes 23 years of Royal Navy service and the enterprise-wide Digital Skills for Defence programme, delivered through Korn Ferry.
It depends on the problem: a rapid TNA can be delivered in weeks; an enterprise capability framework or DSAT governance rebuild is typically a multi-month engagement. The Capability Readiness Review at the start gives both of us a realistic view before committing to scope.
Need DSAT or capability support?
Tell me what you're facing — JSP 822, governance, TNA or readiness. A practical conversation, no sales pitch.