Sound Military Decision Part 26

Where the commander divides his plan into parts for separate accomplishment, he will naturally exercise care that each part is, in itself, the suitable basis for a complete and h.o.m.ogeneous plan.

Successful execution of all these plans results in the complete accomplishment of his Decision.

Directives required to further the success of a particular operation may be issued without awaiting formulation of the entire plan. Parts of the plan may be transmitted as fragmentary directives to guide the action of subordinates in instantaneous or early execution. Such cases are far more frequent than are those in which a formal written plan, to guide either the operations in their entirety or a part thereof, is prepared and distributed as a directive. Effective action by the subordinate is thus not delayed by the absence of complete written directives.

The commander, more especially during war, may be the only individual who is conversant with the entire plan. He may consider that the necessity for secrecy is paramount, or that there are features to whose details he is unwilling to commit himself until the situation is clearer. However, he may usually expect to disclose its scope and general features to his immediate superior, and the plan in its entirety to his next junior; or, in the interests of mutual understanding, to all his subordinates of the next lower echelon or even to his entire command. The scope of the plan also may be a determining factor. If the plan covers an entire campaign or an extended series of operations, its dissemination is less likely and less general than if it is concerned with only a minor operation.

During peace, in exercises simulating war, the complete plan is frequently given circulation for purposes of training.

Subsidiary Plans. Subsidiary plans, discussed in Chapter VII (page 168), are frequently issued as annexes to the Operation Plan (page 196) which carries into effect the basic Decision. The commander will be the judge as to whether alternative subsidiary plans are necessary or desirable under the circ.u.mstances.

Essentials of Military Directives.

General. By the issue of directives, a commander communicates to his subordinates his plans or such parts of them as he desires. Directives may be oral or written, or may be transmitted by despatch.

Whether a directive is to be effective upon receipt, or under specified conditions, or at a specific time, or upon further instructions from the commander, will be evident from its nature, or will be prescribed in the body of the directive itself.

The manner of determining the details of a plan has been discussed in Chapter VII. The matter contained therein is pertinent to the preparation of a plan that is not to be issued as a directive as well as to one that is to be so issued.

The various categories of directives customarily employed in our naval service, and standard forms for these, are described hereinafter.

The essentials of a military directive which is designed to govern the execution of a plan are:

(a) That it indicate the general plan for the common effort of the entire force.

(b) That it organize the force with a view to the effective accomplishment of this plan.

(c) That it a.s.sign tasks to the subdivisions of the force, such that the accomplishment of these tasks will result in the accomplishment of the plan adopted for the entire force.

(d) That it make appropriate provision for coordination among subdivisions, for logistics support, and for the collection of information and the dissemination of intelligence, that it state the conditions under which the plan is to become effective; and that it indicate the location of the commander during the period of execution.

Some of these essentials may have found their expression in previous instructions, or may be unnecessary because of the state of mutual understanding. On the other hand, the directive may include annexes in the form of alternative and subsidiary plans, letters of instructions (page 188), and other material designed to be of a.s.sistance in the intelligent accomplishment of the a.s.signed task.

In issuing a directive, whether written or oral, except such a fragmentary order as has previously been described (page 184), a commander has the following definite responsibilities:

(a) To ensure that subordinates understand the situation,--therefore, to give them pertinent available information.

(b) To set forth clearly the general plan to be carried out by his entire force, as well as the tasks to be accomplished by each subdivision of his force.

(c) To provide each of these subdivisions with adequate means to accomplish its a.s.signed task.

(d) To allow subordinate commanders appropriate discretion within the limits of their a.s.signed tasks, without, however, sacrifice of the necessary coordination.

He will also bear in mind that a directive will best convey his will and intent and will be most easily understood by his subordinates if it is clear, brief, and positive.

Clarity demands the use of precise expressions susceptible of only the desired interpretation. Normally, the affirmative form is preferable to the negative. The importance of clarity has been summed up in the saying, "An order which can be misunderstood will be misunderstood".

If misunderstandings arise on the part of trained subordinates the chief fault often lies with the person who issued the directive.

Brevity calls for the omission of superfluous words and of unnecessary details. Short sentences are ordinarily more easily and rapidly understood than longer ones. Brevity, however, is never to be sought at the expense of clarity. The attainment of brevity often requires considerable expenditure of effort and of time. But time is not to be sacrificed in the interests of obtaining brevity in directives, when the proper emphasis should rather be on initiating early action.

Positiveness of expression suggests the superior's fixity of purpose, with consequent inspiration to subordinates to prosecute their tasks with determination. The use of indefinite and weakening expressions leads to suspicion of vacillation and indecision. Such expressions tend to impose upon subordinates the responsibilities which belong to and are fully accepted by a resolute superior.

Restatement of the Decision for Use in the Directive

Except where special considerations exist to the contrary, it will be found that the expression of the Decision for use in a directive will most clearly indicate the intent of the commander if stated in terms of the objective to be attained by his force (i.e., of the situation to be created or maintained) and of the outlined action for its attainment (page 104). Such expression is usually possible in problems of broad strategical scope (page 88). In other cases difficulty may be encountered. For instance, in tactical problems dealing with the detailed employment of weapons, the action may necessarily be couched in the terms of a series of acts (see page 95).

No precise form is prescribed; thoughts clearly expressed are more important than form. It is customary to begin with "This force (or group) will", and then state with brevity the Decision as (and if) modified, adding the motivating task which is the purpose of the Decision. The motivating task is connected with the preceding statement by words such as "in order to", "to a.s.sist in", or "preparatory to", as the case may be.

Since his original expression of the Decision in the first step (Chapter VI), the commander has studied the operations required to carry it out. He therefore has gained a knowledge, which he did not then have, of how his action is to be carried out. He may now be able to compile a brief of these operations, applicable to all of them and therefore informative to all subordinate commanders. He may be able to say how, or even where and when, the effort of his force will be exerted.

As an ill.u.s.tration, if his Decision is "to destroy enemy battle-line strength", his operations might be described "by gun action at long range during high visibility". Should the commander, solely for the purpose of making his intent clearer to his subordinate commanders, now decide to include the latter phrase in the re-wording of his Decision, he may do so at this point.

It may sometimes be necessary to restate the Decision for another reason. It will be recalled that the commander is frequently obliged to recognize that he cannot carry out all of these operations, and that he therefore decides to issue a directive to carry out certain ones selected for the first stage (page 164). In such a case, he may not now be able to use the full Decision as originally determined. In that event he couches the Decision in terms of the partial accomplishment inherent in the operations to be undertaken.

Standard Forms for Plans and Directives

Form. Experience has shown that military directives usually give best results if cast in a standard form well known alike to originator and recipient. Such a form tends to prevent the omission of relevant features, and to minimize error and misunderstanding. However, a commander may find that lack of opportunity to facilitate mutual understanding by personal conference requires that one or more subordinates receive instructions in greater detail than a standard form seems to permit. A letter of instructions may then be appropriate. The commander himself is the best judge as to the application of a form to his needs of the moment, and as to the necessity for adherence to form in whatever particular.

Useful as form is, it is important to keep in mind that it is the servant and not the master.

The standard form in use in our naval service, long known as the Order Form, is applicable, with certain modifications, to all written plans and directives.

The Order Form will now be described in detail from the standpoint of its general application to all cla.s.ses of directives, including the commander's written plan, whether or not promulgated as a directive.

The Order Form. Because of established usage, and for other reasons noted hereinafter, it is desirable that certain clerical details be handled as follows:

(a) To minimize errors, all numerals are spelled out, except paragraph numbers and those in the heading.

(b) For emphasis, and to minimize errors, all geographical names and names of vessels are spelled entirely with capitals.

(c) To standardize arrangement and facilitate reading, a narrow left-hand margin is left abreast the heading and the task organization, and a wider margin is left abreast the paragraphs.

(d) For the same reasons, the main paragraph numbers are indented in the wider margin.

(e) For emphasis, the task-force or task-group t.i.tles of the task organization, wherever occurring, are underlined.

The sequence in which the subject matter is presented is a logical arrangement which experience has shown to be effective. Since every item has a definite place in the form, formulation is simplified, and ready reference is facilitated.

In a written directive, the prescribed paragraph numbering is always followed, even if no text is inserted after a number. This practice serves as a check against accidental omission, and as confirmatory evidence that omissions are intentional. For example, if there is no new information to be disseminated, the paragraph number "1" is written in its proper place, followed by the words "No further information".

When the subject matter to be presented under any one paragraph is voluminous, it may be broken up into a number of subparagraphs. Except in paragraph 3, these subparagraphs are unlettered.

The Heading contains:

In the upper right-hand corner in the following sequence:

(a) The t.i.tle of the issuing officer's command, such as NORTHERN SCOUTS, or ADVANCED FORCE, etc., preceded by the t.i.tles, in proper order within the chain of command, of all superior echelons or of such higher echelons as will ensure adequate identification.