Airland Battle and the Operational Commander's Information Requirements
Abstract
This monograph examines the operational commander and his information requirements. Specifically, this paper attempts to identify the core elements of information which the operational commander requires to support his decision making process. The reduction of the information the operational commander must see provides him more time with which to accomplish the multitude of tasks he is expected to attend to. The three major areas of interest examined are: strategic guidance, current operations, and future operations. Each of the three areas of interest is examined from a theoretical and doctrinal perspective. Additionally, the discussion of the areas of current and future operations also considers the value of intelligence and operational commander's requirements in each of the three primary areas of interest, and historical example is examined. The example used is the information General Eisenhower received prior to the execution of Operation Overload through the conduct of the Antwerp Operation. The paper concludes by saying that the information flow to the operational commander can be reduced. In each area of discussion a list of critical information elements is given to support this goal. Though the commander can prevent himself from being overwhelmed with information, his ability to do this is based on his leadership style. The commander must be willing to allow his staff to manage the myriad of details necessary while conducting a campaign. This frees the commander to concentrate on those critical aspects of the campaign which only he can properly oversee. Keywords: Comand and control systems; Time management; Logistics. (KR)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 10, 1989
- Accession Number
- ADA215789
Entities
People
- Joseph S. Drelling
Organizations
- United States Army Command and General Staff College