In Search of Command and Staff Doctrine.
Abstract
Responsibility in the United States Air Force for the general rules on command and staff, as concepts, has recently passed from the personnel community to the judge advocate community. This was the result of the 1987 transfer of the office of primary responsibility over Air Force Regulation 35-54, Rank, Procedure, and Command, from the Air Force Military Personnel Center to the Office of The Judge Advocate General. The author, a military lawyer with a long-standing interest in military history, has attempted to aid that movement by pulling together all the written rules, unwritten principles, and historical practices that make up the conceptual infrastructure of command and staff in the United States Air Force. There are many problems here. One example is the confusion in a high appellate court over command succession rules, which resulted in the court's declaring that six Air Force base commanders were not really commanders. Another is the recent movement to enhance staff officers' promotion potential by converting staffs into squadrons and staff officers into commanders. Still another is the general lack of knowledge of Air Force people over the differences between commanding organizations and commanding things other than organizations. Arguably, problems such as these stem from the fact that the United States Air Force is still young and still growing in matters of doctrine. These include, among others, principles on qualifying for command, taking command, sharing command, relinquishing command, functioning as staff, setting up commanders, commanding organizations, commanding segments of organizations, and commanding nonorganizational activities.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 1987
- Accession Number
- ADA186832
Entities
People
- John R. Brancato
Organizations
- Air War College