ADM 310 · Administration and Staff Services · Level 300 (Non-Commissioned Officer)
A Royal Army College course in running the orderly room and keeping a headquarters organised.
Course length: approximately 10 hours of online self-study, studied asynchronously at the student's own pace, together with any in-person practical instruction and assessment the course requires.
Foreword
A clerk keeps records; an orderly room NCO keeps a headquarters running. This course is the step from doing administration to leading it: holding the hub where a unit's records, orders, correspondence, and returns come together, driving the routine that moves the right information to the right people on time, leading the clerks who do the work, and assembling from many separate records the one true picture a commander can act on. It is where careful administration becomes a quiet, organising force that lets a unit function.
The course teaches the orderly room and the appointments that run it; the administrative battle rhythm and how to build and drive it; the management of correspondence, minuting, and tasking at a headquarters; how returns are consolidated into the strength, training, and logistics picture command needs, accurately and on time; how to supervise clerks and safeguard records, physical and digital, with continuity so the orderly room never stops; how the unit's orders and instructions are produced and promulgated so command's decisions reach the unit unbroken; how meetings are prepared, captured as records of decision, and driven to action; how the administration of an activity or operation is planned in advance across the standing areas; how a deployed orderly room runs away from base under reduced means; and how the whole exists to serve command and the soldiers. It draws on recognised headquarters and orderly-room practice and on the service writing of PME 210 and the leadership of the LDR stream.
A well-run orderly room is invisible: the commander has the picture, the soldiers are looked after, and nothing is dropped. A poorly run one makes everything harder for everyone. This course builds the NCO who makes a small headquarters work.
Who this course is for
This course is for Corporals and Sergeants who hold, or are preparing for, the Orderly Room NCO appointment or a headquarters administrative role, and for those advancing in the Administration and Staff Services speciality. It assumes ADM 201, ADM 210, and ADM 220, and benefits from LDR 301 · Junior Leadership.
What this course covers
| Lesson | Title |
|---|---|
| 01 | The Orderly Room, the Adjutant, and the Orderly Room NCO |
| 02 | The Administrative Battle Rhythm |
| 03 | Correspondence, Minuting, and Tasking |
| 04 | Consolidating Returns: the Picture Command Needs |
| 05 | Supervising Clerks and Safeguarding Records |
| 06 | Producing and Promulgating Orders and Instructions |
| 07 | Meetings, Agendas, and Records of Decision |
| 08 | Administrative Planning for Activities and Operations |
| 09 | The Deployed Orderly Room |
| 10 | The Headquarters in Support of Command and People |
How this course fits the catalogue
ADM 310 completes the Administration and Staff Services speciality, above ADM 201, ADM 210, and ADM 220. It draws on PME 210 · Basic Staff Duties and Written Orders (service writing and reports at scale), LDR 301 · Junior Leadership and the Training and Instruction speciality (leading and training clerks), CIS 210/220 · Information Systems and Identity, Access, and Records Security (safeguarding records and continuity), LOG (consolidating the logistics state), and LDR 420 · Command Responsibility and Ethical Leadership (integrity). It supports the Orderly Room NCO and Staff NCO appointments.
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