Dallas NIVENS, Major, United States Army, Kansas National Guard, Ordnance Officer, Commander, Regional Training Site for Maintenance

Throughout the history of United States Army doctrine, the term, “mission command” has been used to describe a warfighting function, a philosophy, and a system.  It has also been used interchangeably with the term, “command and control.” This has led to confusion and different expectations among commanders in the past.  This paper uses current United States Army doctrine to understand the necessity of mission command and to define it using it’s seven principles. This paper will also offer some suggestions for training and incorporating the principles of mission command into the command climate. Finally, command and control will be defined with explanation about how mission command influences and supports this concept. Read the whole article by downloading the PDF.