What does "Sustain" mean? These are things that worked — decisions made, skills used, equipment that performed, or procedures that held up under pressure. The point is to identify them clearly so you keep doing them and build on them.
Add one entry per item. For each one, say what it was, why it worked, and what that means for the future.
Example: “Generator started immediately.” — Why: We follow a monthly test-and-fuel discipline. — Conclusion: Monthly generator maintenance protocol is working. Keep it on the calendar permanently.
What does "Improve" mean? These are gaps, failures, or near-misses — things that did not work, were missing, or could have gone much worse. Be honest. This section only has value if you tell the truth.
For each item: describe the problem, explain why it happened, and — if possible — define a specific action you will take to fix it. A problem without a fix is just a complaint.
Example: “Fuel supply ran out after 18 hours, not 24 as estimated.” — Why: We had never actually measured generator fuel consumption under real load. — Fix: Run a timed fuel consumption test in the next 30 days and update our fuel stock accordingly. Assigned to: [Member]. Due: [Date].
Every AAR must address safety — even if everything was fine. This is not optional. Note what happened, what almost happened, or confirm that no safety issues occurred. Future planning depends on this record.
Examples: “No injuries or safety issues during this event.” — or — “Near-miss: Child nearly touched the generator exhaust. No barrier in place. Needs a physical guard before next use.”
TC 25-20: "The AAR leader reviews and summarizes key points identified during the discussion. He should end the AAR on a positive note, linking conclusions to future training." Capture the 2–3 most important takeaways and what specific preparation tasks they link to next.
Full formatted AAR report: event header, situation assessment, sustain and improve items, corrective actions, and notes.
All outstanding corrective actions (Open and In Progress) across all AARs, sorted by target date. For leadership review and accountability.
All AOW modules flagged for update (Pending and In Progress), with required changes and responsible parties. Keep the suite synchronized with reality.
Summary statistics plus all active trend entries with frequencies, categories, and recommended systemic fixes. For strategic readiness planning.
This manual assumes you have never opened DEBRIEF before, and it explains everything from the beginning. Every screen is described and labeled. Work through it in order the first time. After that, use the table of contents to jump straight to whatever you need.
DEBRIEF is the part of the suite that helps your group learn from real events. A storm, a power outage, a medical scare, a training drill, even a quiet weekend that revealed a gap: each one is a chance to get better, but only if you capture the lesson before it fades.
The method DEBRIEF uses is the AAR, the After Action Review. It comes from the U.S. Army field manual TC 25-20, and it has one job: turn experience into improvement. DEBRIEF takes that proven method and writes it in plain language for families and preparedness groups.
Every AAR answers four plain questions, in order:
DEBRIEF has a fixed layout. Once you know these three areas, the whole module makes sense.
Shows the module name. On the right, COMMAND SUITE returns you to the launcher, and the gear icon opens suite settings (where dark and light mode live).
This is how you move between the five modules, the Outputs page, this manual, and the Demo sandbox (RETURN TO LIVE when you are inside the demo). The highlighted item is the one you are looking at. You can switch at any time without losing your work, because everything you save is stored as you go.
Everything else. Each module fills this space with its own forms, lists, and buttons. The rest of this manual walks through them one at a time.
The fastest way to understand DEBRIEF is to record one real event. Pick something that already happened (a recent outage, a drill, a close call) and follow these steps.
This is your library of completed reviews, newest first. It is the screen you land on when DEBRIEF opens.
Use the search box to match a title, type, or location. The two dropdowns filter by event type and by severity. Clear them to see everything again.
Click any card to expand it. You will see the full record: the situation, the Sustain and Improve items, safety notes, the closing summary, the T-P-U assessment, and small chips showing how many actions are still open. The colored badge on the left is the severity (1 Minor through 5 Critical).
This is the heart of DEBRIEF: the full guided review. It is laid out in numbered sections. Work top to bottom. Fields marked with a star are required.
TC 25-20 requires ground rules before every review. Read them (aloud if others are present), then check the box. No rank in the room, no blame, honesty over appearances.
The basics: title, date, type, and severity. There is a "What do these levels mean?" expander under the severity buttons if you are unsure which number fits. Location, recorder, people involved, review type, and discussion approach are optional but useful later.
State what good looked like. The standard is not "the generator ran," it is "seventy-two hours of power for the medical fridge with under thirty minutes of hand-tending." If no standard existed, say so; defining one becomes its own action.
Two boxes: the plan going in, and the real picture. Tell the story in order. Stick to facts. If several people were there, capture all of their views.
Add one entry per thing that worked. For each, say what it was, why it worked, and what that means going forward. Press + ADD SUSTAIN ITEM for as many as you need.
Add one entry per gap or near-miss. Describe the problem, the root cause, and the conclusion. Set a proficiency rating if you can. Then, if there is a concrete fix, tick Generate corrective action and fill in the action, owner, due date, and affected module. That action appears in Module 03 the moment you submit.
Every review must address safety, even to confirm there were none. Tick the box if a hazard or near-miss occurred, and note the detail. "No safety issues, all members accounted for" is a complete answer.
Capture the two or three biggest takeaways and the future training they point to. Then add T-P-U rows: for each task this event tested, mark it Trained (to standard), Practiced (needs reps), or Untrained (cannot do it reliably yet). This is how you decide what to drill next.
When everything is in, press SUBMIT AAR. To start over, CLEAR FORM wipes the page.
A Hot Wash is the informal, on-the-spot version of an AAR, taken while the event is still fresh. TC 25-20 supports it for exactly this reason: immediate feedback beats a perfect report written too late.
Press the amber ⚡ HOT WASH button at the top of Module 02. Fill in a title, one thing that went well, one thing that must change, and (optionally) an immediate action with an owner. Save it. It lands in Module 01 tagged as a Hot Wash, and any action you named is created in Module 03.
This is your task list: every fix from every review, in one place. Actions arrive here three ways: from an Improve item with the action box ticked, from a Hot Wash, or by hand with + ADD ACTION.
Click a card to open it. You will see the finding, the required action, the owner, the due date, and the source review. Move it through its life cycle with the status buttons: Open, In Progress, Closed, Verified. Add notes as you go and press SAVE NOTES.
Sometimes a lesson from one event means another part of your preparedness needs updating: your water plan, your comms card, your medical supplies. This log tracks those cross-module changes so the whole system stays honest with reality.
Entries are created automatically when a corrective action names an affected module, or by hand with + ADD UPDATE. Each entry names the module, the change required, the source review, and an owner. Move it through Pending, In Progress, and Complete.
One bad event is a story. The same problem in three events is a pattern, and patterns need systemic fixes. This module helps you see them.
DEBRIEF reads all of your data and shows the totals at a glance: how many reviews, how many open actions, how many pending updates, and your average severity. Below that, bar charts show which event types come up most and which modules get flagged most often. At the bottom, DEBRIEF lists recurring keywords it found across your Improve items, so themes surface on their own.
When you spot a pattern, record it here with + ADD TREND: a name, a category, how many reviews it touches, the pattern you see, and the systemic fix you recommend. Mark a trend Addressed once the underlying fix is in place.
The Generate Docs page turns your data into paper. There are two kinds of output, and they serve different needs.
The large card at the top, PRINT COMPLETE BINDER, builds a single, page-numbered document containing everything: a cover page, a summary, every review in full, the open-actions register, the module update log, and the trend analysis. It opens in your browser's print window. Choose your printer, or "Save as PDF," to drop the whole record into a three-ring binder. This is the one to use for a leadership review or an annual file.
Below the binder are four targeted reports: a single AAR summary, the open-actions report, the module update list, and the trend analysis report. Each opens in your browser's print window with its own cover sheet, so you can send it to a printer or choose "Save as PDF." Use these when you only need one piece rather than the whole binder.
DEBRIEF works on its own, but it gets stronger alongside the rest of WATCHMAN.
DEBRIEF saves your work the moment you submit or update something. There is no separate save button for your records; the green confirmation is your signal that data is stored.
Everything stays on this device, in this browser, with no account and no internet required. That is by design: your group's lessons are sensitive, and they should never leave your control.
| AAR | After Action Review. The structured four-question method DEBRIEF is built on. |
| TC 25-20 | The U.S. Army field manual (A Leader's Guide to After-Action Reviews) that defines the method. |
| Sustain | Something that worked and should be kept and repeated. |
| Improve | A gap, failure, or near-miss that must change. Each one can become a tracked action. |
| Corrective action | A specific, assigned, dated fix for an Improve item. Tracked to closure in Module 03. |
| Hot Wash | The quick, informal version of a review, captured immediately after an event. |
| T-P-U | Trained, Practiced, Untrained. An honest rating of where a task stands, used to decide what to drill next. |
| Force protection | The safety side of a review: hazards, injuries, and near-misses. |
| Severity | How serious the event was, from 1 (Minor) to 5 (Critical). |
| OPSCON | Operational Condition. Your readiness level, defined in the SENTINEL module. |
| Trend | A pattern that appears across multiple reviews and needs a systemic fix. |
| JSON | The file format DEBRIEF uses for backups. Export it to save your data; import it to restore. |
DEBRIEF ships with a demo sandbox — a separate copy pre-loaded with a worked example that closes the loop end to end: an ice-storm AAR whose fuel finding spawns a corrective action, a follow-up drill AAR that closes that action as Verified, a comms drill with an open action, module updates in three states, and two trend entries built from the repeated findings. It is the whole DEBRIEF discipline — find, assign, fix, verify, trend — in one readable scenario.
Opening and leaving. In the live module, click DEMO in the sidebar under this manual. Inside the demo, that same slot reads RETURN TO LIVE and takes you back. An amber banner across the top of the demo tells you which copy you are in at all times.
Your real data is safe. The demo keeps everything in separate storage slots. Its cross-module hooks are sandboxed too: the OPSCON stamp pulls from the SENTINEL demo (open that demo and set a level to see it flow through), and Echo threat links point at the Echo demo slot. Nothing here can read or write your real modules.
Resetting. The ↻ RESET DEMO button (top bar and amber banner) discards any changes and restores the sample scenario.
This manual assumes you have never opened DEBRIEF before, and it explains everything from the beginning. Every screen is described and labeled. Work through it in order the first time. After that, use the table of contents to jump straight to whatever you need.
DEBRIEF is the part of the suite that helps your group learn from real events. A storm, a power outage, a medical scare, a training drill, even a quiet weekend that revealed a gap: each one is a chance to get better, but only if you capture the lesson before it fades.
The method DEBRIEF uses is the AAR, the After Action Review. It comes from the U.S. Army field manual TC 25-20, and it has one job: turn experience into improvement. DEBRIEF takes that proven method and writes it in plain language for families and preparedness groups.
Every AAR answers four plain questions, in order:
DEBRIEF has a fixed layout. Once you know these three areas, the whole module makes sense.
Shows the module name. On the right, COMMAND SUITE returns you to the launcher, and the gear icon opens suite settings (where dark and light mode live).
This is how you move between the five modules, the Outputs page, this manual, and the Demo sandbox (RETURN TO LIVE when you are inside the demo). The highlighted item is the one you are looking at. You can switch at any time without losing your work, because everything you save is stored as you go.
Everything else. Each module fills this space with its own forms, lists, and buttons. The rest of this manual walks through them one at a time.
The fastest way to understand DEBRIEF is to record one real event. Pick something that already happened (a recent outage, a drill, a close call) and follow these steps.
This is your library of completed reviews, newest first. It is the screen you land on when DEBRIEF opens.
Use the search box to match a title, type, or location. The two dropdowns filter by event type and by severity. Clear them to see everything again.
Click any card to expand it. You will see the full record: the situation, the Sustain and Improve items, safety notes, the closing summary, the T-P-U assessment, and small chips showing how many actions are still open. The colored badge on the left is the severity (1 Minor through 5 Critical).
This is the heart of DEBRIEF: the full guided review. It is laid out in numbered sections. Work top to bottom. Fields marked with a star are required.
TC 25-20 requires ground rules before every review. Read them (aloud if others are present), then check the box. No rank in the room, no blame, honesty over appearances.
The basics: title, date, type, and severity. There is a "What do these levels mean?" expander under the severity buttons if you are unsure which number fits. Location, recorder, people involved, review type, and discussion approach are optional but useful later.
State what good looked like. The standard is not "the generator ran," it is "seventy-two hours of power for the medical fridge with under thirty minutes of hand-tending." If no standard existed, say so; defining one becomes its own action.
Two boxes: the plan going in, and the real picture. Tell the story in order. Stick to facts. If several people were there, capture all of their views.
Add one entry per thing that worked. For each, say what it was, why it worked, and what that means going forward. Press + ADD SUSTAIN ITEM for as many as you need.
Add one entry per gap or near-miss. Describe the problem, the root cause, and the conclusion. Set a proficiency rating if you can. Then, if there is a concrete fix, tick Generate corrective action and fill in the action, owner, due date, and affected module. That action appears in Module 03 the moment you submit.
Every review must address safety, even to confirm there were none. Tick the box if a hazard or near-miss occurred, and note the detail. "No safety issues, all members accounted for" is a complete answer.
Capture the two or three biggest takeaways and the future training they point to. Then add T-P-U rows: for each task this event tested, mark it Trained (to standard), Practiced (needs reps), or Untrained (cannot do it reliably yet). This is how you decide what to drill next.
When everything is in, press SUBMIT AAR. To start over, CLEAR FORM wipes the page.
A Hot Wash is the informal, on-the-spot version of an AAR, taken while the event is still fresh. TC 25-20 supports it for exactly this reason: immediate feedback beats a perfect report written too late.
Press the amber ⚡ HOT WASH button at the top of Module 02. Fill in a title, one thing that went well, one thing that must change, and (optionally) an immediate action with an owner. Save it. It lands in Module 01 tagged as a Hot Wash, and any action you named is created in Module 03.
This is your task list: every fix from every review, in one place. Actions arrive here three ways: from an Improve item with the action box ticked, from a Hot Wash, or by hand with + ADD ACTION.
Click a card to open it. You will see the finding, the required action, the owner, the due date, and the source review. Move it through its life cycle with the status buttons: Open, In Progress, Closed, Verified. Add notes as you go and press SAVE NOTES.
Sometimes a lesson from one event means another part of your preparedness needs updating: your water plan, your comms card, your medical supplies. This log tracks those cross-module changes so the whole system stays honest with reality.
Entries are created automatically when a corrective action names an affected module, or by hand with + ADD UPDATE. Each entry names the module, the change required, the source review, and an owner. Move it through Pending, In Progress, and Complete.
One bad event is a story. The same problem in three events is a pattern, and patterns need systemic fixes. This module helps you see them.
DEBRIEF reads all of your data and shows the totals at a glance: how many reviews, how many open actions, how many pending updates, and your average severity. Below that, bar charts show which event types come up most and which modules get flagged most often. At the bottom, DEBRIEF lists recurring keywords it found across your Improve items, so themes surface on their own.
When you spot a pattern, record it here with + ADD TREND: a name, a category, how many reviews it touches, the pattern you see, and the systemic fix you recommend. Mark a trend Addressed once the underlying fix is in place.
The Generate Docs page turns your data into paper. There are two kinds of output, and they serve different needs.
The large card at the top, PRINT COMPLETE BINDER, builds a single, page-numbered document containing everything: a cover page, a summary, every review in full, the open-actions register, the module update log, and the trend analysis. It opens in your browser's print window. Choose your printer, or "Save as PDF," to drop the whole record into a three-ring binder. This is the one to use for a leadership review or an annual file.
Below the binder are four targeted reports: a single AAR summary, the open-actions report, the module update list, and the trend analysis report. Each opens in your browser's print window with its own cover sheet, so you can send it to a printer or choose "Save as PDF." Use these when you only need one piece rather than the whole binder.
DEBRIEF works on its own, but it gets stronger alongside the rest of WATCHMAN.
DEBRIEF saves your work the moment you submit or update something. There is no separate save button for your records; the green confirmation is your signal that data is stored.
Everything stays on this device, in this browser, with no account and no internet required. That is by design: your group's lessons are sensitive, and they should never leave your control.
| AAR | After Action Review. The structured four-question method DEBRIEF is built on. |
| TC 25-20 | The U.S. Army field manual (A Leader's Guide to After-Action Reviews) that defines the method. |
| Sustain | Something that worked and should be kept and repeated. |
| Improve | A gap, failure, or near-miss that must change. Each one can become a tracked action. |
| Corrective action | A specific, assigned, dated fix for an Improve item. Tracked to closure in Module 03. |
| Hot Wash | The quick, informal version of a review, captured immediately after an event. |
| T-P-U | Trained, Practiced, Untrained. An honest rating of where a task stands, used to decide what to drill next. |
| Force protection | The safety side of a review: hazards, injuries, and near-misses. |
| Severity | How serious the event was, from 1 (Minor) to 5 (Critical). |
| OPSCON | Operational Condition. Your readiness level, defined in the SENTINEL module. |
| Trend | A pattern that appears across multiple reviews and needs a systemic fix. |
| JSON | The file format DEBRIEF uses for backups. Export it to save your data; import it to restore. |
DEBRIEF ships with a demo sandbox — a separate copy pre-loaded with a worked example that closes the loop end to end: an ice-storm AAR whose fuel finding spawns a corrective action, a follow-up drill AAR that closes that action as Verified, a comms drill with an open action, module updates in three states, and two trend entries built from the repeated findings. It is the whole DEBRIEF discipline — find, assign, fix, verify, trend — in one readable scenario.
Opening and leaving. In the live module, click DEMO in the sidebar under this manual. Inside the demo, that same slot reads RETURN TO LIVE and takes you back. An amber banner across the top of the demo tells you which copy you are in at all times.
Your real data is safe. The demo keeps everything in separate storage slots. Its cross-module hooks are sandboxed too: the OPSCON stamp pulls from the SENTINEL demo (open that demo and set a level to see it flow through), and Echo threat links point at the Echo demo slot. Nothing here can read or write your real modules.
Resetting. The ↻ RESET DEMO button (top bar and amber banner) discards any changes and restores the sample scenario.