Command and Control: The Achilles Heel of the Iran Hostage Rescue Mission

Abstract

The subject of this paper is the command and control process used during the planning and execution of the Iran hostage rescue mission (Operation DESERT CLAW). The purpose is not to fix blame for its failure, but to analyze the operation and discuss the command and control issues involved. This paper looks at command and control from the strategic, operational, and tactical levels of the mission. It does not discuss the command, control, and communications as a system, but only command and control as a process. The primary findings of the paper are that violations of the principles of command and control occurred at the national level and impacted on the command and control process at the other levels. The paper concludes that command and control principles at each level of command are just as important for special operations as conventional operations. The command and control aspects of the Iran hostage rescue mission.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Feb 13, 1992
Accession Number
ADA249903

Entities

People

  • Gregory P. Gass

Organizations

  • Naval War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • C4I
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Air Force Facilities
  • Aircrafts
  • Command And Control
  • Command And Control Systems
  • Control Systems
  • Delta Force
  • Department Of Defense
  • Elements
  • Flight Training
  • Helicopters
  • Logistics
  • Military Operations
  • New York
  • United States
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Irregular Warfare and Special Operations Cyberspace Operations against Adversarial Threats.
  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.
  • Team-Based Human-Centered Cognitive Task Decision Making and Information Performance.

Technology Areas

  • Fully Networked C3
  • Fully Networked C3 - Command and Control