Military Doctrine Characteristics

The purpose of this essay is to select two essential characteristics the United States Armed Forces must possess, in order to achieve operational success during war. Conversely, evidence substantiates that the Armed Forces rely on several characteristics, therefore, to lessen the complexity of war. According to the ADP 1, the military is organized, trained and equipped for winning the Nation’s wars. Nonetheless, United States maneuver forces are experiencing an historic seven-year phased reduction process totaling 562,000 Soldiers in 2010 to 450,000 Soldiers in 2017. Ultimately, the operational objective is ‘right sizing’ the force without eroding capabilities, preparing to face the unknown. As a career Soldier, with combat experience for

this paper I chose competent leaders and effective doctrine to prevent Soldier’s from repeating the same mistakes of the past.

Competent Leaders
As the Armed Forces transition to a leaner force structure, it is imperative that leaders’ indoctrinate lessons learned in Iraq and Afghanistan in which, has resulting in unequivocal operational success in war. Ultimately, the state of the military preparedness lies within our leadership. Military leaders are the most influential asset of an organization and therefore, command the transformation process of a ‘mediocre’ organization into a ‘great organization’. My personal example of ‘organizational transformation’ was during my third deployment in Kabul, Afghanistan. I worked for a toxic leader who yelled, used profanity and habitually degraded the staff. During the fifth month of the deployment, his behavior continued to escalate and eventually he was removed from the position. As I reflect back, during this ordeal he made me a better officer because I became the Subject Matter Expert (SME) on ‘all things logistics’ in order to avoid the personal humiliation; however, toxic leadership has no place in the military and must be eradicated throughout the formation. History proves no military leader is irreplaceable. A military organization will not stop functioning because one leader, no matter how senior or central, steps aside. In combat, the loss of a leader can be a shock to a unit, but the unit must, and will, continue its mission. Great leaders implement professional development and robust training programs within their organization, in order effectively groom and mentor their subordinates through formal education, training and self-development initiates. According to Retired General Colin Powell’s, Thirteen Rules of Leadership Rule 11 states, ‘Have a vision!’ and ‘Be demanding!’ This rule defines how the leader envisions the future and empowers leaders to hold everyone accountable for their actions. Ultimately, this rule forms the organizational goals, thereby, accepting prudent risks measure in contrast to the organization peak performance output metrics.

Effective Doctrine
Military doctrine provides written tactics, techniques and principles of how the military contributes to campaigns, major operations, battle and engagements.

Ultimately, doctrine is the operational playbook that the Armed Forces uses for waging war, therefore, doctrine is not a strategy. Doctrine combines offensive, defensive, and stability or civil support operations simultaneously as part of an interdependent joint or combined force to seize, retain, and exploit the initiative. Military leaders through mission command will exercise authority and direction using mission orders to enable the disciplined initiative within the commander's intent to empower agile and adaptive leaders in preparation to face the unknown. Leaders implement doctrine, thereby, creating a common operating picture in a joint environment in which, also focuses on the integration of various warfighting functions. Therefore, doctrine allows the Combatant Commander to transform complex problems into a simple document. As the military transition into the twenty-first century Soldier have the flexibility to access a publication via cell phones and personal computers. This innovation has aided in the reduction of an act of fratricide by the establishment of clear lines of effort, through the delineation of operational boundaries and a sector of fires. An example of effective doctrine, is cited during my first deployment in Bagram, Afghanistan. According to the forward Intelligence Reports, militant insurgent cells began emplacing IEDs alone the main and secondary ground supply routes from Kandahar, Bagram and Jalalabad. The Brigade Support Battalion (BSB) Commander, who is the senior Logistician within the Brigade ordered military personnel to cease movement on all road networks. He then ordered his staff to conduct mission analysis to develop courses of actions (COAs) in order to provide sustainment distribution via an alternative node. Additionally, he directed EOD assets sweep and clear

all routes, prior to resuming line-haul operations. As a result, no one was injured during the execution of this deployment and the application of effective doctrines ultimately, resulted in lives saves during the war.

In closing, the Armed Forces rely on several characteristics and collectively, they are instrumental to the operational success in combat. As the Armed Forces transition to a leaner force structure, leaders must implement lessons learned from Iraq and Afghanistan, in preparing for the unknown. Leaders drives the success of future organizations through the implementation of mechanisms to assist with professional growth and development process using quarterly counseling, coaching and mentorship programs. The Armed Forces operational success is guided by competent leaders, executing mission command in which is standardized throughout current doctrine. The United States military two most critical characteristics have successfully steered the Armed Forces to operational success in Iraq and Afghanistan are competent leaders and effective doctrine. Therefore, ultimately both have proven impossible to replicate and has continued to separate the United States combat effectiveness from potential unknown and evolving threats, worldwide.