Analyze information attached
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M448MissionCommand_CommandSlides.pdf
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ELO
ELO-400-MLC-0470.2
Action: Examine the Army philosophy of mission command: Command.
Condition: In a group learning environment, given references and collaboration.
Standard: Based on a case study, summarize your findings and address important considerations that include:
1. Pointing Out the Elements and Nature of Command;
2. Informing the NCO of the commander’s role during operations; and
3. Illustrating Guides to Effective Command.
Learning Domain: Cognitive
Level of Learning:Analysis
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Nature of Command
How does the “art of command” influence Senior NCO’s duties and responsibilities?
Answer all questions in your journal
Who commands?1. What is the art of command?2.
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Nature of Command Continued
Command is the authority that a commander in the armed forces lawfully exercises over subordinates by virtue of rank or
assignment. Command includes the authority and responsibility for effectively using available resources and for planning the
employment of, organizing, directing, coordinating, and controlling military forces for the accomplishment of missions. It also
includes responsibility for health, welfare, morale, and discipline of assigned personnel.
Command is personal. The commander alone is responsible for what the command does or fails to do.
Command is more art than science because it depends on actions only human beings can perform, to include judgment. The art of
command is the creative and skillful exercise of authority through timely decision making and leadership. Proficiency in the art of
command stems from years of schooling, self-development, introspection, and operational and training experiences. ADP 6-0
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Further Analysis
Elements of Command
Authority
Decision Making
Judgement
Leadership
Command Presence
Location of Commander
Which of the elements of command are you most comfortable operating under?
Answer all questions in your journal before selecting the Further Analysis Button.
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Further Analysis
The elements of command are authority, responsibility, decision making, and leadership. The definition of command refers explicitly
to authority. Along with authority comes responsibility—the obligation to carry forward an assigned task to a successful conclusion.
Commanders exercise their authority by making decisions and leading their command in implementation of those decisions.
Successful commanders develop skill in each element through maturity, experience, and education.
AUTHORITY
Authority is the right and power to judge, act, or command. Commanders understand that operations affect and are affected by
human interactions.
Commanders may delegate authority to subordinates to accomplish a mission or assist in fulfilling their responsibilities. This
includes delegating authority to members of their staffs and noncommissioned officers. Delegation allows subordinates to decide
and act for their commander, or in their commander’s name, in specified areas.
RESPONSIBILITY
Commanders are legally and ethically responsible for their decisions and for the actions, accomplishments, and failures of their
subordinates. Commanders may delegate authority, but delegation does not absolve commanders of their responsibilities to their
higher commander.
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The importance of the mission informs commanders how much risk to Soldiers and equipment to accept. When there is conflict
among the three, mission accomplishment comes before Soldiers, and Soldier.
DECISION MAKING
Decision making involves applying both the art and science of war. They belong to the science of war and are important to
understanding what is possible with the resources available. Other aspects—the impact of leadership, complexity of operations, and
uncertainty about the enemy—belong to the art of war.
Decision making requires knowing if, when, and what to decide as well as understanding the consequences of that decision. Critical
to decision making is the ability to make decisions without perfect information, knowing when enough information allows acceptable
decisions, and the willingness to act on imperfect information. Striking the balance between acting now with imperfect information
and acting later with better information is essential to the art of command.
Situational understanding is the product of applying analysis and judgment to relevant information to determine the relationships
among the operational and mission variables. Situational understanding allows commanders to make effective decisions and
regulate the actions of their force with plans appropriate for the situation. It enables commanders and staffs to assess operations
accurately. Commanders and staffs continually strive to maintain their situational understanding and work through periods of
reduced understanding as a situation evolves.
Commanders and staffs apply critical and creative thinking to decision making. Critical thinking examines a problem in depth from
multiple points of view.
Creative thinking involves thinking in new, innovative ways using imagination, insight, and different ideas.
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Effective commanders consider their experience, their staff’s experience, and the time and information available when considering
their decision-making approach.
Judgment
Commanders make decisions using judgment acquired from experience, training, and study. Experience contributes to judgment by
providing a basis for rapidly identifying practical courses of actions and dismissing impractical ones. Commanders use judgment to
assess information, situations, or circumstances shrewdly and to draw feasible conclusions. Skilled judgment helps commanders
form sound opinions and make sensible decisions.
Judgment becomes more refined as commanders become more experienced. Commanders apply their judgment to:
Identify, accept, and mitigate risk
Delegate authority
Prioritize resources
Direct the staff
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Further Analysis Continued
DIRECT STAFF
Commanders rely on and expect initiative from staff officers as much as from subordinate commanders.
Within their headquarters, commanders exercise their judgment to determine when to intervene and participate personally in staff
operations, as opposed to letting their staffs operate on their own based on guidance. Commanders cannot do everything
themselves or make every decision; such participation does not give staffs the experience mission command requires. However,
commanders cannot simply approve staff products produced without their input. Commanders participate in staff work where it is
necessary to guide their staffs. They use their situational understanding and commander’s visualization to provide guidance from
which their staffs produce plans and orders. In deciding when and where to interact with subordinates, the key is for commanders to
determine where they can best use their limited time to greatest effect—where their personal intervention will pay the greatest
dividend.
LEADERSHIP
Commanders are both leaders and followers. Successful commanders recognize the responsibilities they and their subordinates
have to the next higher echelon and the larger formation overall.
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Commanders know the status of their forces. Command Sergeants Major, First Sergeants, and Platoon Sergeants play vital
roles in providing the commander awareness about the morale and physical condition of their Soldiers. Commanders need to know
when circumstances may prevent friendly forces from performing to their full potential. For example, a subordinate unit may have
recently received inexperienced replacements, may have lost cohesion due to leader casualties, or may be extremely fatigued due to
an extended period of operations.
COMMAND PRESENCE
Command presence is the influence commanders have on those around them through their personal demeanor, appearance, and
conduct. Commanders use their presence to gather and share information and assess operations through personal interaction with
subordinates. It allows commanders to assess intangibles like morale and provide direct feedback on subordinate performance.
Commanders employing the mission command approach ask questions without second-guessing their subordinate’s performance
unless absolutely necessary. Command presence establishes a background for all plans and procedures so that subordinates can
understand how and when to adapt them to achieve the commander’s intent. Commanders can establish command presence in a
variety of ways, including:
Being seen and heard
Sharing risk and hardship
Setting a good personal example
Ensuring their commander’s intent is widely understood
Providing clear face-to-face commander’s guidance
Back briefs and rehearsals
LOCATIONS OF THE COMMANDER
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Where a commander is located can bring the leadership element of combat power directly to the decisive operation, especially when
that location allows for personal presence and the ability to directly observe events. Commanders gain firsthand appreciation for the
human dimension of a situation that can rarely be gained any other way. Equally important, they can avoid the delays and distortions
that occur as information travels down and up the chain of command. Finally, by their presence, commanders direct emphasis to
critical spots and focus efforts on them. Common to all echelons of command, these factors influence the decision on the
commander’s location:
The need to understand the situation
The need to make decisions
The need to communicate
The need to motivate subordinates
The commander’s forward presence demonstrates a willingness to share danger and hardship. It also allows commanders to
appraise for themselves a subordinate unit’s condition, including its leaders’ and Soldiers’ morale. Forward presence allows
commanders to sense the human dimension of conflict, particularly when fear and fatigue reduce effectiveness.
Commanders cannot let the perceived advantages of improved information technology compromise their obligation to personally
lead by example. ADP 6-0
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Role of Commanders in Operations
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Further Analysis
Why is the commander the most important participant in the process of planning, preparing, and executing
operations?
Answer all questions in your journal before selecting the Further Analysis Button.
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See ADP 5-0 for a detailed discussion of the operations process. Figure found in ADP 3-0, 31 July 2019, para 4-2.
Further Analysis
Commanders, staffs, and subordinate units employ the operations process to integrate and synchronize the warfighting functions
across multiple domains and synchronize forces to accomplish missions. This includes integrating numerous processes such as
intelligence preparation of the battlefield, the military decision-making process, and the targeting process within the headquarters
and with higher echelon, subordinate, supporting, and supported units.
Commanders are the most important participants in the operations process. While staffs perform essential functions that amplify
the effectiveness of operations, commanders drive the operations process through understanding, visualizing, describing,
directing, leading, and assessing operations as shown in figure 2-2. Accurate and timely running estimates maintained by staffs
assist commanders in understanding the situation and making decisions throughout the operations process.
Understand
Commanders collaborate with their staffs, other commanders, and unified action partners to build a shared understanding of their
operational environment and associated problems. Planning, intelligence preparation of the battlefield, and running estimates help
commanders develop an initial understanding of their operational environment. Commanders direct reconnaissance and develop the
situation through action to improve their understanding. Commanders circulate within the area of operations as often as possible,
collaborating with subordinate commanders and speaking with Soldiers. Using personal observations and inputs from others
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(including running estimates from their staffs), commanders improve their understanding of their operational environment
throughout the operations process.
Visualize
As commanders begin to understand their operational environment, they start visualizing a desired end state and potential solutions
to solve or manage identified problems. Collectively, this is known as commander’s visualization—the mental process of
developing situational understanding, determining a desired end state, and envisioning an operational approach by
which the force will achieve that end state.
In building their visualization, commanders first seek to understand those conditions that represent the current situation. Next,
commanders envision a set of desired future conditions that represents the operation’s end state. Commanders complete their
visualization by conceptualizing an operational approach—a broad description of the mission, operational concepts, tasks, and
actions required to accomplish the mission.
Describe
Commanders describe their visualization to their staffs and subordinate commanders to facilitate shared understanding and
purpose throughout the force. During planning, commanders ensure subordinate commanders understand their visualization well
enough to begin course of action development. During execution, commanders describe modifications to their visualization in
updated planning guidance and directives resulting in fragmentary orders that adjust the original operation order. Commanders
describe their visualization in doctrinal terms, refining and clarifying it as circumstances require. Commanders describe their
visualization in terms of:
1. Commander’s intent
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2. Planning guidance, including an operational approach
3. Commander’s critical information requirements
4. Essential elements of friendly information
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Further Analysis Continued
Direct
To direct is implicit in command. Commanders direct action to achieve results and lead forces to mission accomplishment.
Commanders make decisions and direct action based on their situational understanding maintained by continuous assessment.
Throughout the operations process, commanders direct forces by:
1. Preparing and approving plans and orders
2. Establishing command and support relationships
3. Assigning and adjusting tasks, control measures, and task organization
4. Positioning units to maximize combat power
5. Positioning key leaders at critical places and times to ensure supervision
6. Allocating resources to exploit opportunities and counter threats
7. Committing the reserve as required
Lead
Commanders lead by example and personal presence. Leadership inspires subordinates to accomplish things that they otherwise
might not. Where a commander locates within an area of operations is an important consideration for effective mission command.
Through leadership, commanders provide purpose, direction, and motivation to subordinate commanders, their staffs, and Soldiers.
There is no standard pattern or simple prescription; different commanders lead differently. Commanders balance their time among
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command posts and staffs, subordinate commanders, forces, and other organizations to make the greatest contribution to success.
(See ADP 6-22 for a detailed discussion of leadership, including attributes of effective leaders.)
Assess
Commanders continuously assess the situation to better understand current conditions and determine how an operation is
progressing. Continuous assessment helps commanders anticipate and adapt the force to changing circumstances. Commanders
incorporate the assessments of their staffs, subordinate commanders, and unified action partners into their personal assessment of
the situation. Based on their assessment, commanders adjust their visualization and modify plans to adapt the force to changing
circumstances.
A commander’s focus on understanding, visualizing, describing, directing, leading, or assessing throughout operations varies during
different operations process activities. For example, during planning commanders focus more on understanding, visualizing, and
describing while directing, leading, and assessing. During execution, commanders often focus more on directing, leading, and
assessing—while improving their understanding and modifying their visualization as needed. (See ADP 5-0 for a detailed discussion
on assessing operations.)
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Senior NCO’s Mission Command Support Role
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ADP 6-0, Figure 2-2. This slide contains the MOST relevant and crucial information related to the lesson.
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Answer the questions in your journal before selecting the Further Analysis Button.
What crucial function does the NCO serve as related to Mission Command?1. When have you found yourself uncomfortable exercising “disciplined” initiative?2.
Further Analysis
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Further Analysis
1. Noncommissioned officers are key enablers of mission command, and they must be trained in the mission command
principles to effectively support their commander and lead their Soldiers. Noncommissioned officers are required to
exercise initiative to make decisions and take actions to further their commander’s intent.
2. Noncommissioned officers enforce standards and discipline and develop their subordinates as they build teams. They
are trained to operate under mission orders and decide for themselves how best to achieve their commander’s intent. With
information available to all levels of command and increasing dispersion on the battlefield, noncommissioned officers must be
comfortable in exercising initiative to make decisions and act.
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Guide to Effective Command
Create a Positive Command Climate
Accept Subordinates’ Risk Taking and Error
Build Trust and Shared Understanding
Communicate With Subordinates
Build Teams
Ensure Unity of Effort
Train Subordinates
Make Timely Decisions and Act
Give concrete examples of how the Senior NCO Mission Command Support role supported the guides to
effective command.
Answer all questions in your journal.
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Guide to Effective Command Continued
The guides to effective command help commanders fulfill the fundamental responsibilities of command. A commander’s use of
these guides must fit the situation, the commander’s personality, and the capability and understanding of subordinates. Command
cannot be scripted. These guides apply at all levels of command. Mission command provides a common baseline for command
during operations and garrison activities.
The following guides aid commanders in effectively exercising command and inculcating mission command:
1. Create a positive command climate
2. Ensure unity of effort
3. Train subordinates on command and control and the application of mission command
4. Make timely and effective decisions and act
Create a Positive Command Climate
Successful commanders recognize that all subordinates contribute to mission accomplishment. They establish clear and realistic
goals and communicate their goals openly. Commanders establish and maintain communication between subordinates and leaders.
They encourage subordinates to bring creative and innovative ideas to the forefront. They also seek feedback from
subordinates. The result is a command climate that encourages initiative.
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In a positive command climate, the expectation is that everyone lives by and upholds the moral principles of the Army Ethic. The
Army Ethic must be espoused, supported, practiced, and respected. Mission command depends on a command climate that
encourages subordinate commanders at all levels to take the initiative. Commanders create a positive command climate by:
1. Accepting subordinates’ risk taking and errors
2. Building mutual trust and shared understanding
3. Communicating with subordinates
4. Building teams
Ensure Unity of Effort
Unity of effort is the coordination and cooperation toward common objectives, even if the participants are not necessarily part of the
same command organization, which is the product of successful unified action. Establishing a culture of collaboration provides and
enhances unity of effort. The commander’s intent provides the unifying idea that allows decentralized execution within an
overarching framework.
Unity of command is one of the principles of war and the preferred method for achieving unity of effort. Commanders always adhere
to unity of command when task-organizing Army forces. Under unity of command, every mission falls within the authority and
responsibility of a single, responsible commander.
Unity of command may not be possible in some operations that include unified action partners. When unity of command is not
possible, commanders must achieve unity of effort through cooperation and coordination to build trust among all elements of the
force—even if they are not part of the same command structure.
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The commander’s intent provides guidance within which individuals are expected to exercise initiative to accomplish overall goals.
Understanding the commander’s intent two echelons up further enhances unity of effort while providing the basis for decentralized
decision making and execution. Subordinates who understand the commander’s intent are more likely to exercise initiative in
unexpected situations. Under mission command, subordinates have an absolute responsibility to fulfill the commander’s intent.
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Guide to Effective Command Continued
Train Subordinates in Command and Control and the Application of Mission Command
Effective mission command requires well-developed subordinates capable of decentralized execution of missions and tasks.
Training must create common, repetitive, shared experiences that build trust and allow commands to acquire competence in shared
understanding. Trained teams are able to communicate explicitly and implicitly, conduct decentralized operations, and achieve unity
of effort in uncertain situations.
Make Timely Decisions and Act
Timely decisions and actions are essential for effective command and control. Commanders who demonstrate the agility to
consistently make appropriate decisions faster than their opponents have a significant advantage. By the time the slower
commander decides and acts, the faster one has already changed the situation, rendering the slower commander’s actions
irrelevant. With such an advantage, the faster commander can dictate the tempo and maintain the operational initiative.
A mission command approach makes it easier for commanders to make timely decisions that exploit opportunities because they
spend less time focused on subordinates’ tasks. Effective commanders:
1. Take their opponent’s plans, capabilities, and reaction times into account when making decisions
2. Consider the impact of their decisions—the cause and effect
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3. Make decisions quickly—even with incomplete information
4. Adopt a satisfactory course of action with acceptable risk as quickly as possible
5. Delegate decision making authority to the lowest echelon possible to obtain faster decisions during operations
6. Support decentralized execution by continuously sharing knowledge with subordinates and frequently with adjacent
commanders
Commanders change and combine intuitive and analytical decision making techniques as the situation requires. Because
uncertainty and the tempo of large-scale combat operations drive most decisions, commanders emphasize intuitive decision making
and develop their subordinates accordingly. However, when time is available and depending on the operational context of a situation,
commanders and staffs use the military decision-making process or Army design methodology during planning.
Commanders can alter planning to fit time-constrained circumstances. In time-constrained conditions, commanders assess the
situation, update their commander’s visualization, and direct their staffs to perform those activities needed to support the required
decisions. Streamlined processes permit commanders and staffs to shorten the time needed to issue orders when the situation
changes. To an outsider, it may appear that experienced commanders and staffs omit key steps. In reality, they use existing products
or perform steps mentally.
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Guide to Effective Command Continued
Based on your CMF, give some examples of when outdated running estimate information hindered the
commander’s accurate visualization of an operation.
Answer all questions in your journal.
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Guide to Effective Command Continued
Commanders and staffs constantly assess where an operation is in relation to the end state and make adjustments to accomplish
the mission and posture the force for future operations. The commander’s visualization and the staffs’ running estimates are the
primary assessment tools.
Keeping running estimates current is essential to ensuring commanders are aware of feasible options.
Staffs continuously replace outdated facts and assumptions in their running estimate with new information. They perform analysis
and form new, or revise existing, conclusions and recommendations. The commander’s visualization identifies decisions
commanders expect to make and focuses their staffs’ running estimates.
Up-to-date running estimates provide the recommendations commanders need to make timely decisions
during execution.
The role of commanders is to direct and lead from the beginning of planning throughout execution, and continually assess and
adjust operations to achieve their intent. Commanders drive the operations process. They understand, visualize, describe, direct,
lead, and assess operations in complex, dynamic environments. Throughout operations, commanders, subordinate commanders,
staffs, and unified action partners collaborate actively, sharing and questioning information, perceptions, and ideas to better
understand situations and make decisions. Commanders encourage disciplined initiative through mission orders and a climate of
mutual trust and shared understanding. Guided by their experience, knowledge, education, intelligence, and intuition, commanders
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apply leadership to translate decisions into action. Commanders synchronize forces and capabilities in time, space, and purpose to
accomplish missions.
Ultimately, command reflects everything a commander understands about the nature of war, warfighting doctrine, training,
leadership, organizations, materiel, and soldiers. It is how commanders organize their forces, structure operations, and direct the
synchronized effects of organic and allocated assets toward their visualized end state. Command is built on training and mutual
understanding by all Soldiers within that command about how it operates.
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Answer the questions in your journal.
Where do you see yourself in the process of mission command?1. How can you include your experience as an NCO to assist the commander in mission command?2.
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End of Presentation
Please contact your facilitator with any questions you may have.
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M A S T E R L E A D E R C O U R S E M448 Mission Command: Command
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Table of Contents
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1. Title Page
2. Table of Contents
3. Image: Commander Briefing Soldiers
4. Publish and Process
5. Scope
6. ELO
7. Nature of Command
8. Elements of Command
9. Role of Commanders in Operations
10. Senior NCO’s Mission Command Support Role
11. Guide to Effective Command
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What is Happening?
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Answer the questions in your journal.
What part of the mission command process do you see?
Give examples of how a Commander impacts the momentum of the battle.
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Scope This is a two-hour lesson that interprets the elements
and nature of command as a integral part of mission
command. During this lesson, you will explore the
Army’s approach to the command portion of mission
command through the lens as a warfighting function.
The focus of this lesson will cover the nature and
elements of command, the role of commanders during
operations. At the end of this lesson, the learner will be
able to identify elements and the nature of command,
and provide guides to effective command as it relates
to the senior NCO.
