Mission Command — A Multifaceted Construct
Mission Command — A Multifaceted Construct
by Richard N. Pedersen
Download the Full Article: Mission command
Mission Command is emerging as a multifaceted construct that integrates the functions and techniques of the art and science employed during the exercise of command authority over missions applying military and other instruments of national power.
The Army Operating Concept (AOC) defines mission command as the exercise of authority and direction by commanders and their staffs to integrate the warfighting functions using the operations process and mission orders to accomplish successful full-spectrum operations. This is a dramatic expansion of how Army doctrine previously defined mission command—the conduct of military operations through decentralized execution based on mission orders. This new definition is expected to be incorporated into the forthcoming FM 3-0 update.
The central idea expressed in the Mission Command Army Functional Concept (MC AFC), a derivative of the AOC, is that mission command fosters mutual trust, encourages initiative, and empowers lower echelons with the combined arms capabilities and authority to fight for information, create opportunities, and exploit advantage consistent with the commander’s intent and concept for accomplishing the mission. Although this describes the benefits of the new mission command, its net effect is to renew emphasis on existing ideas.
The outlook is that mission command is fundamentally the exercise of power to determine, adjudicate, or otherwise settle issues revolving around the warfighting functions during the conduct of the operations process. Currently, the Army’s warfighting functions line up directly with the six joint functions described in JP 3-0. The Army sees the newly defined mission command as an evolved concept encompassing both the Army’s philosophy of command and the integrating function that effectively combines all warfighting functional capabilities.
Download the Full Article: Mission command
COL Richard N. Pedersen, USA Ret., is the lead mission command analyst at the Combined Arms Center’s Mission Command Battle Laboratory. He commanded a Combined IBCT Task Force with duty in combat as Commander, Regional Command-South in Afghanistan; he also commanded BCTP.
