General Stanley McChrystal and the Principals of Mission Command
SSG Jake M. Calderon
Senior Leaders Course
14 June 2023
General Stanley McChrystal and the Principals of Mission Command General (GEN) Stanley McChrystal served in the United States Army in many roles, notably as the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and Joint Special Operations (JSOC) commander. GEN McChrystal also served within the 75th Ranger Regiment and the 82nd Airborne Division early in his career. GEN McChrystal exercised the principles of Mission Command found in Army Doctrine Publication (ADP) 6-0 throughout his many leadership positions. Leaders currently serving today can reflect on GEN McChrystal’s performance as a leader and incorporate
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For GEN McChrystal, leading all coalition forces in Afghanistan proved to be a challenging task that involved persistent relationship-building with Afghan political leaders and NATO forces. The general developed a strategy that involved deploying more troops to the region to combat the growing Taliban threat and doing so required convincing Congress and the many NATO countries. The general failed to mitigate and accepted the risk of undermining presidential authority while serving as the ISAF commander. The challenges associated with invading a country, occupying it, and living amongst its population to rebuild it are the very basis of COIN operations. GEN McChrystal and his staff deliberately leaked his strategy to involve more troops in the conflict to gain public traction and force a negative perception of the Obama administration and their perspective on the war in Afghanistan. Leaking the strategy to the press led to the eventual addition of more troops in the region, but severely damaged the relationship that the general had with the administration and unfortunately, Afghan political leaders. Although complex in execution, in my assessment, GEN McChrystal failed to perform within the parameters of his commander’s intent and did not foster a shared understanding with his immediate leadership. This led to the general risking his relationship with his leaders and Afghan political partners, for …show more content…
His ability to leverage the advances of technology, create a shared understanding through his “Team of Teams” concept, and build trust within his organization led to countless successes. GEN McChrystal’s achievements exist not without his failures. He is an example of how discord at the highest ranks of military authority can lead to drastic and crippling consequences that countered his and his leader’s efforts. Current and future leaders must take the experience of those that came before us, the good and the bad, and mold and adapt our leadership styles to embody the principles of mission command and create an environment filled with productive personnel that accomplishes their
On July 30, 2008, a bloody battle involving Coalition forces took place in the mountainous eastern Afghan province of Nuristan. This was the Battle of Wanat and the devastating amount of Coalition casualties began a vigorous investigation by the United States Army. The village of Wanat, defended by Second Platoon, Chosen Company, Second Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team would fall victim to numerous bad decision made by higher command. Although the men of Chosen Company fought hard, they ended up surrounded, vastly outnumbered, and without any Battalion assets. This paper will argue the reasons for the disastrous outcome of the Battle of Wanat; examining the effective company leadership exploiting effective
General Hooker’s commanders’ activity can be analyzed to help better understand why he made the decisions he made, retreating to a defensive posture and failing to use his numbers to his advantage to attack or conduct a successful counter attack. It is important to first understand how Commanders drive the operations
McMaster, led Eagle Troop of 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment in conducting reconnaissance for the VII Corps. Cpt McMaster would end up making split-second decisions that would shape the battlefield and have everlasting effects on how commanders train and prepare for battle. History “In August of 1990, on the heels of Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait, 34 nations mustered under the auspices of President George H.W. Bush's Operation Desert Shield. ”2
Abrams also stressed a “one war” concept that put equal emphasis on military operations, improvement of the Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces, and pacification – all of which are codependent so that the better we do in one, the more our chance of progress in others (18). The changes in tactics under Abrams, and in the concept of the nature of the war, and even the enemy reaction to battlefield reserves, by no means meant an end to fierce combat, or even to large-scale military operations (138). America’s principal national objective became peace. Abrams policy proved to be better than the policy of attrition. The policy of attrition simply meant, under those circumstances, a very prolonged type of warfare, whereas the U.S. can clear and hold, and keep an area secure, and keep the enemy out.
Therefore, he dispatched his 2nd Brigade Commander, Colonel Anderson, to gather as much information as possible, assess the situation, then report back describing the conditions in order for Major General Petraeus to lead, and direct his units in Mosul. This paper explores the aspects he used to lead, direct, and assess the 101st Airborne Division in Mosul. Moreover, how General Petraeus was able to utilize artful
Introduction: Operation Anaconda was one of the largest operations conducted by the United States and coalition forces in Afghanistan in March 2002. The operation was aimed at destroying Al Qaeda and Taliban forces in the Shah-i-Kot Valley in eastern Afghanistan. The success of the operation was due in part to the principles of mission command, which allowed individual soldiers like M.Sgt. John Chapman to demonstrate their leadership and bravery on the battlefield. This analytical essay will examine the seven army principles of mission command and how they were demonstrated in the story of M.Sgt.
Staff Sergeant Montano was vital in the planning, leadership, and execution of more than four major computer network operations, covering a span of two years against high-priority Counter-ISIS nodes of interest worldwide in direct support of national intelligence objectives. These operations included two of the largest and most complex cyber operations in USCYBERCOM history. For all of these efforts, Staff Sergeant Montano was the key leader who made it possible for USCYBERCOM to achieve what had only been imagined for years. He excelled at skillfully taking an idea for an operation and turning it into an executable
The U.S. Marine Corps has been fighting the nation’s conflicts since their founding in 1775. Their agile structure and unique capabilities make them the primary go to force for military operations and activities. Marines have currently and/or have been previously involved in several joint operational environments from stability operations in Haiti with the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), to peace operations in Liberia with the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), to counterinsurgency (COIN) operations in the aftermath of the war in Afghanistan, and counterterrorism operations in the Philippines with Operation Freedom Eagle. These military operations and activities are different in scope, nature, and presumed
Realizing the need, Major General Petraeus soon began to employ the division to work local nationals to restart water and electricity and working to reopen schools (Lundberg, 2008). Lacking any guidance from his leadership, Petraeus took many prudent risks in order to further see these plans through by utilizing his own assets. For example, according to Lundberg, he utilized assets such as Army engineers to begin clearing rubble and debris from cities, villages, and roadways. Conclusion Providing a strong leadership approach and willingness to take risk, Major General Petraeus was put on a mission to develop and implement strategy to establish stability in Mosul, Iraq.
Leaders at all levels of the Army are faced with difficult decisions every day, decisions that can affect the lives of everyone around them. The thought processes used by individual leaders to make decisions can be as far reaching as their imagination; however, it is every leader’s responsibility to make these decisions using the tenants of mission command. Mission command is not an easy skill to master, however great leaders understand it and the proper use of it when planning a mission. Mission command is broken down into six major principles: Build cohesive teams through trust, create a shared understanding, provide a clear commanders’ intent, exercise-disciplined initiative, use mission orders and accept prudent risk . General Douglas
The Effective Military Leader Warrant Officer Romero, Philip T. SPC: Captain Dearth, 1st Platoon The book “Black Hearts One Platoons Descent into Madness in Iraq’s Triangle of Death” by Jim Frederick is a true story about multiple leadership failures and six United States Soldiers from 1st Platoon, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division who were convicted for their involvement in horrible crimes while deployed to Iraq. The horrific acts including rape as well as murder committed by the soldiers of 1st platoon were a direct result of poor military leadership. Bad leadership will corrupt any military unit.
Book Review 2: Soldiers, Statesmen, and Cold War Crises by Richard Betts Summary: Betts starts off his book by recognizing the ambiguity around the advocacy of the use of force in a crisis by military leaders even though there is a prevalent assumption that military professionals are more aggressive than diplomats and politicians. He states he writes the book in order to provide a comprehensive survey of the postwar role of American military men in decisions on their most essential function, their use of force in combat. Betts acknowledges the vast availability of literature on military participation in decisions on defense budgets and weapons procurement, but feels there is a void when looking at decision-making from the perspective of military leadership versus civilian leadership.
This statement given in the early part of the book represents the entire story is basically the lesson for book that I am able to take with me into my preferred field. Leaders are able to get a sense of learning how to properly manage plans and to understand how to better route situations that lead to less casualties. Which is the main focus of the book the military not being able to have a control of situations therefore making the
By definition, “mission command is the exercise of authority and direction by the commander using mission orders to enable disciplined initiative within the commander’s intent to empower agile and adaptive leaders in the conduct of unified land operations,” according to ADRP 5-0. Mission command is about knowing when to change the task to fit the purpose. This paper is intended to analyze the mission command of one side of the battle, focusing on the commander’s role in the operations process. The Battle of Bunker Hill was the most important battle of the American Revolution because of Colonel Prescott’s superior command and control.
The initial stage which represented the beginning of the war in Afghanistan began shortly after the attacks of 11 September 2001 of the Twin Towers. President George W. Bush ordered strikes against the al Qaeda terrorist camps and the military troops of the Taliban. His main strategy was „to disrupt the use of Afghanistan as a terrorist base of operations and to attack the military capability of the Taliban regime”. As stated before, strategies and objectives were altered during these years and during 2003-2008, the strategies were modified in such a way that the USA had only allocated very low national resources, which affected massively the situation, in such a way that the objectives proved to be ineffective. Strategies and policies were and still are closely linked.