Essay Sample on Army Mission Command: Balancing Art and Science for Success

Introduction

Sustainment commanders use mission command to establish a balance between the art of command and the science of control as they incorporate the sustainment combat function with the other combat functions to attain goals. Mission command is the conduct of military operations through decentralized execution founded on mission-type orders. The United States Army set out six principles of Mission Command in their doctrine. The Anaconda mission in Afghanistan worked best under decentralized planning and decentralized execution. The planning style worked efficiently for the sensitive site exploration (SSE) missions; also it is different from doctrinal planning conceptualizations taught in services like U.S. Air Force (Naylor, 2006). The main factor to the success of the combat operations in Afghanistan was the unity between U.S. Special Operations Force (U.S. SOF) on the ground with allied Afghan forces. The paper examines the six principles of mission command and relates them to the Operation Anaconda Case Study.

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Establish Cohesive Teams through Mutual Trust

It is clear that if there is no trust within a team or teams, then there will be an absence of cohesiveness and mutual support. Establishing trust among teams is usually the outcome of shared experiences and a history of working together, especially in situations that involve shared struggle. Gaining the trust of the friendly Afghan forces required a deliberate approach. The U.S-SOF desired the flexibility offered by having stockpiles of material and numerous base camps. The friendly Afghan forces had to convince the U.S. Special Operations Forces that they would help them and not distract them from the mission.

Mutual trust was crucial in the operation anaconda. JSOTF DAGGER having an easy time nurturing trust with the friendly Afghan forces. JSOTF DAGGER is on record for a planning session with other task forces and CFLCC Forward to organize the plan details. The strategy developed to incorporate the traditional U.S. Infantry of TF Rakkasan, Australian SOF from TF 64, and Coalition SOF from TF K-BAR. The commanders in the Anaconda operation and staff collaborated to establish multiple courses of action. They created processes for the operations procedure that was evaluated with the commands during the operations. The CENTCOM commander acquired the shared trust of team members by allocating obligations founded on the powers and recent encounters of each service's agents (Kugler 2007).

Create Shared Understanding

Creation of a mutual understanding is the most crucial stage in creating a team. It aims at comprehending what is to be attained and what provides the team the motive to facilitate the unity of effort. The CENTCOM commander incessantly cooperated with the united action stakeholders to establish a mutual understanding of the mission and established lines of effort to illustrate what the task force must strive to attain the intended end state.

To better facilitate command and control of the operation, Combined Joint Task Force (CJFT) Mountain headquarters shifted from Uzbekistan to Bagram Airbase in the outskirts of Kabul. There was a clear understanding between the Air Force commanders and the CFLCC's staff. The CJFT understood that it required an air planning and deconfliction factor. Therefore, the commander had to dispatch a small team from the CFLCC personnel to connect with CJTF Mountain at Bagram. There was also an understanding between the USAF Major and the CJTF Fire Support Element before they moved to Bagram. All the forces in the Combined Joint Task Force understood that the enemy forces in the Shahi Kot valley had several hundred fighters. They also knew that the enemy forces relied on the local people or some agents in the friendly Afghan military. Therefore, even if there was a shared understanding of the Anaconda operation, some information was not directly revealed to the friendly Afghan forces to avoid betrayal or surprise attacks (Fleri, Howard, Hukill & Searle, 2003).

Offer Clear Commander's Intent

The CENTCOM commander's intent statement described what constituted prosperity for an operation. The commander's desire was an obvious and brief expression of the motive of the operation and the desired military end state that supported mission command, offered focus to the staff, and assisted subordinate and supported commander's act to attain the commander's intended outcomes without further orders, even when the operation did not sometimes unfold as planned. In the Anaconda operation, intelligence estimates of real enemy power varied substantially and the numbers did not appear to be arbitrated during planning. In the case of the Tora Bora region, the Shahi-Kot region was one where the Afghan guerrillas relished substantial prosperity against the Soviet initially.

In maintaining the United States intention to keep the footprint in Afghanistan limited and permit the Afghans to undertake as much combat as possible, Task Force DAGGER was guided to establish plans for an operation to make clearance in the Shahi Kot valley. TF DAGGER initiated a strategy that utilized General Zia Lodin's Afghan military as the key aggressive punch driving into the valley backed by ready air strikes and substantial close air support (CAS). This invasion would compel the enemy forces to run away from the valley and the friendly Afghan forces together with the United States conventional infantry military would hold major blocking positions. The commander's intent was to integrate the details of the attacking plan and ensure that the enemy forces moved out of the Shahi Kot valley (Perry & Kassing, 2015).

Exercise Disciplined Initiative

The use of disciplined initiative within the CENTCOM commander's determination is a crucial element of effective mission command. Commanders at the point of action were expected to evaluate the situation, make suitable resolutions in reaction to the transformations in the operational context, and follow actions aligned with attaining the intended end state offered in the commander's desired statement. In the mission Anaconda, the Combined Joint Task Force plan was established for the enemy forces to flee the region through the mountain and pass in front of the allied Afghan forces where the United States and friendly forces would be waiting to attack them.

The task force's discipline was highly observed to ensure that the enemy did was caught unaware. The task forces were also given the responsibility of directing airstrikes against the enemy factor that may try to run before the invasion started. The SOF team was spearheaded by General Zia who ensured that the forces stuck to their initial plan. No military personnel deviated from the initiative of attacking the enemy forces in the valley from the north (Fleri et al, 2003).

Utilize Mission Orders

The focus of mission command is the result of the operation. The goal of the mission was to kill or capture Taliban and al-Qaeda militants based in the Shahi-Kot Valley. The U.S Special Forces Commanders used mission orders to give directives that highlighted to the subordinates the outcomes to be achieved, not how they were going to attain them.

The mission orders offered guidance and direction that emphasized the forces actions on attaining the key goal. The mission orders also offered the commander's primacies and appropriated resources. The subordinate commanders utilized the CENTCOM commander's intent and the level of effort to establish their operations orders. The measures entailed every-day fragmentary orders, two-times daily change briefings and two-time daily battle update briefs. The regularity and value of the information exchanges affected the situation and also facilitated disciplined activities. In the Anaconda operation, the CJFT Mountain focused on eliminating the enemy forces from the Shahi Kot valley. The mission orders were to infiltrate small special reconnaissance teams two days before the attack. Task Force members from K-Bar were expected to take up positions in the mountains east of the Shahi Kot valley were Task Force members from 64 were expected to position themselves at the south of the valley to facilitate situational awareness prior to the invasion (Perry & Kassing, 2015).

Accept Prudent Risk

Establishment of reasonable estimates and deliberately approving prudent risk are essential to mission command. The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) continually undertook risk assessments to ascertain risks and execute solutions to mitigate them. The General Commander in Operation Anaconda ordered that every mission possess a conception of operation that integrated a risk assessment. Risks evaluated as low were accepted at the direct combat level. Medium risks were accepted at the battalion level while high risks were accepted at the brigade level.

There were beliefs that the enemy forces were strong and would bring casualties to the United States and allied forces. However, they had to take a risk and attack to eliminate them from the Shahi Kot valley. All through Operation Anaconda, the United States forces acquired many reports regarding 'thousands' of enemy forces who were situated in numerous locations across Afghanistan. However, after investigations by friendly forces, the information appeared to have been exaggerated. The nature of the exaggerations has made the force's commanders be very skeptical of the information they received concerning the enemy forces. Additionally, there was no report on an enemy force that had attempted to stand and engage in combat in many months hence showing that the information delivered to the U.S. forces was not correct. The most appropriate thing to do was undertake a risk assessment and ensure that the risk was minimal before any attack was launched (Naylor, 2006).

Conclusion

Mission command entails the conduct of military operations using decentralized plans grounded on mission-type orders. The Anaconda operation in Afghanistan was successful because of the use of decentralized planning and execution. Mission command has six principles namely acceptance of prudent risk, use of mission orders, execution of disciplined initiative, provision of clear commander's intent, creation of shared understanding and establishment of interrelated teams through mutual trust. When there is trust between the team, the outcome is positive. In the Anaconda operation, the U.S. Task Forces worked together with the allied Afghan forces to ensure that the enemy forces were eliminated from the Shahi Kot valley. Mutual understanding was also a key element in the Anaconda operation between the U.S. Task Force and the friendly Afghan forces. The mission involved a large risk due to lack of information regarding the enemy's number. However, the operation was eventually a success.

References

Fleri, E., Howard, E., Hukill, J. & Searle, T.R. (2003). OPERATION ANACONDA CASE STUDY. Retrieved from: file:///C:/Users/x/Downloads/Anaconda%20mission%20case%20study%20.pdf on date 8/7/2019.

Kugler, R. L. (2007). Operation Anaconda in Afghanistan: A case study of adaptation in battle. National Defense Univ Washington Dc Center for Technology and National Security Policy. Retrieved from: https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a463075.pdf on date 8/7/2019

Naylor, S. (2006). Not a Good Day to Die: The Untold Story of Operation Anaconda. London: Penguin.

Perry, W. L., & Kassing, D. (2015). Toppling the Taliban: Air-ground operations in Afghanistan, October 2001/June 2002. Santa Monica, CA: RAND.