The Challenges of Adopting a Culture of Mission Command in U.S. Army: Review of Prussian-German Auftragstaktik, Understanding Military Culture, Fredrick the Great and Prussian Centralized Command

This excellent report has been professionally converted for accurate flowing-text e-book format reproduction. While the US Army has ostensibly embraced mission command doctrine, it has failed to live up to many of its central tenets. It unevenly practices mission command and has been unable to fully institutionalize its principles. Mission command, like its Prussian-German predecessor Auftragstaktik, is a cultural phenomenon that requires a very specific set of characteristics to function effectively. There are noticeable cultural barriers that are prohibiting the full adoption of mission command in the US Army.

A breathless, decade-long pace of operations superimposed with environmental pressures, constrained budgets and resources, dramatic reductions in force structure and personnel, and major social and technological changes are affecting the organizational culture of the US Army. Internal organizational tensions stemming from competing value systems also threaten the institutionalization of a culture of mission command. The decentralized system of organizational control employed in Iraq and Afghanistan is fundamentally at odds with peacetime procedural control that favors more centralized control and less risk. Likewise, the development and implementation of high-end information technology creates a paradox for mission command.

Understanding Military Culture * Theory of Organizational Culture * Defining Organizational Culture * Subcultures * Assessing Organizational Culture * Problems with Organizational Culture * The Elements of Military Culture * Assessing Military Culture * Leadership and Organizational Culture * The Evolution of Auftragstaktik * Fredrick the Great and the Prussian Tradition of Centralized Command * The Impact of Napoleonic Warfare * Prussian Military Reform * Helmuth von Moltke and the Institutionalization of Auftragstaktik * Auftragstaktik in Practice: World War I * Auftragstaktik in Practice: World War II * Auftragstaktik: The Basis of a Modern German Command Philosophy * A Cultural Model of Mission Command * Assessing the Culture of Mission Command in the US Army * Incomplete Adoption of Mission Command * Environmental Pressures * Cultural Tensions * Conclusion

The Army's current philosophy of mission command is a descendant of the German concept of Auftragstaktik. Auftragstaktik, loosely translated as 'mission tactics' or 'mission orders', came into mainstream military lexicon after World War II to describe a uniquely German decentralized-style of command. The principles of Auftragstaktik have evolved logically and naturally since the conquests of the Prussian warrior-king, Fredrick the Great. Auftragstaktik channeled the aggressive posture and legendary discipline of the Prussian army. As the battlefield grew increasingly dense and complex, the Prussians responded by decentralizing authority and responsibility and allowing greater subordinate freedom of action. They placed heavy emphasis on initiative and empowerment to take full advantage of rapidly changing conditions. Auftragstaktik is not simply a doctrine, but a cultural phenomenon that requires a specific organizational culture. The cultural characteristics took many years to mature and congeal, but have led to a highly effective and adaptive military organization.