The application of philosophy and the concept of mission command have mainly been helpful to my military career when I focus on duty assignments since I graduated from the Sergeant Major Course (SMC). During my assignments, I have been involved in various situations that involve making decisions while having the philosophy and concept of mission command. Notwithstanding, I have not always been mindful of the concepts that could make my decision making more convenient or remembered them. The realization of the Inherence of the concepts and philosophy of mission command to my regular work made me more interested in learning their application to the military command activities (Richardson, 2015). There are elements of philosophy and concepts that are crucial to my day-to-day interactions with the sergeants as well as the soldiers, which have diversified the way I make my decisions regarding the various activities that pertain to military command. To begin with, the knowledge that I have and will keep having regarding military command activities will enable me to regulate and make the best of the daily interactions that I have with my subordinates at the workplace. Being in the position of a sergeant major that I am now, I will need to be mindful of the best principles of mission command that I can make use of to maximize the interactions that I have with my subordinates while making their work more comfortable as well (Moilanen, 2015). Secondly, the knowledge of the principles and the philosophy of mission command will make it more convenient for me to exercise the authority I have as a sergeant major in my field of work (Moilanen, 2015). With the making of the appropriate decisions to alter the activities that run in my docket, I will be in a favorable position to ensure that, each of the workers under me have worked their best.
The philosophy of mission command is defined as the exercise of authority or leadership by the military commander using the stipulated mission orders with the aim of enabling disciplined initiative with the commander's intent to empower leaders in operations (Bezooijen & Kramer, 2015). The practice of mission command has been termed as inadequate for the various levels of military activities that take place in the various parts of the world. Additionally, the creation of adaptive and agile leaders has also proven to have various insufficiencies in the system owing to the lack of knowledge of the philosophy of mission command in the duty assignments of most sergeants. Sometimes, there may be widespread fear when a particular sergeant is asked by his or her commander to do something for them regarding the military operations. Such fear may arise from the lack of adequate knowledge on the philosophy of mission command (Shamir & Ben-Ari, 2018). Such scenarios have deepened my insight on the various opportunities in mission-based activities that I may not be aware of especially in the decision-making practice. In the line of developing myself as an agile and able military leader, the comprehension of the philosophy of mission command will be instrumental. Empowering myself as a sergeant will become more comfortable for me as an agile leader than it will be at my time of graduation from the SMC. Of course, the teachings and empowerment take time, which I will have learned how to wisely invest in by the time I am graduating from SMC (Shamir & Ben-Ari, 2018). The other element that will characterize my empowerment to become a visionary sergeant is patience. Patient and time will go hand in hand, as I undertake my military command teachings regarding philosophy. The last element I will need is understanding. I will have to be keen to comprehend better some of the teachings that I will gain upon my graduation from SMC into my assignment in the military operations.
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In today's world, mission command is considered as best suited for military and war operations. Thus, learning the philosophy of mission command will equip me with the knowledge to decide on the military operations that will be the most appropriate for the soldiers who are under my authority. Initially, the philosophy of mission command came from the Prussians, which was designed to reduce the causes of friction during the war (Muth, 2016). Initially, there was confusion as the sergeants and commanders exercised their authority on the soldiers who were involved in a given war. As such, it was essential to come up with a way that ensured the soldiers did not collide with one other during the war (Muth, 2016). Modern militaries adopted the conventional Prussian military command and tweaked it a little to ensure that it fits their military circumstances. However, the application of the Prussian philosophy of mission command has become an uphill task for the modern militaries as factors hinder them in the organizational, technological, and sociological aspects (Wright, 2015). Such reasons barring the practical application of the philosophy of mission command may limit its applicability to the current militaries despite the value that it has proven to have in the historical times. The understanding of the history behind the philosophy of mission command will be relevant to my assignments regarding military operations (Wright, 2015). I will be in an excellent position to understand the various aspects of the history of mission command that have been changed to suit the current military operations in the various parts of the United States of America and the rest of the world. Furthermore, the understanding of the various problems that face the mission command in today's military operations is crucial to my practice in that I will ensure that the people under me and myself avoid such challenges.
Various guiding principles of mission command that will be helpful in my future assignments in the military field after my graduation from the SMC are as follows (Pruitt, 2017). Firstly, the building of a cohesive team through a mutual trust will be the first principle that will apply to my career (Hedlund, Börjesson & Österberg, 2015). The development of a team in the military field is one of the noblest tasks that a commander or sergeant has to do. The formation of a group has numerous advantages to the effectiveness of the military groups. For instance, the building of a team leads to the ease of handling military operations. Typically, the military groups are based on unity, which counts as one of the most crucial values inherent to the efficiency of the military groups. Nonetheless, a group in the military without trust loses its meaning. Trust in the military group gives the commander or sergeant the confidence in the proper handling and running of the tasks that pertain to the military operations (Ross et al., 2017). The principle of building a cohesive team through mutual trust is vital to my future assignments in that it will be a fundamental building block for my team building skills and the maintenance of trust while I handle the other sergeants and the soldiers under me.
The second principle of mission command that will contribute to the effectiveness of my future assignment, as a sergeant is the creation of a shared understanding (Ismail & Abdullah, 2017). Clarity in the military is held in high regard as a simple misunderstanding may lead to dire consequences for a team or the whole organization. Just as in the ancient philosophy of mission command that was developed by the Prussians, everyone in a given military team has to understand the role they play and the boundaries that they are supposed to limit their functions to as they carry out the stipulated operations (Ismail & Abdullah, 2017). Goals and objectives are also set in the military by a sergeant. The created goals and objectives provide a cohesive basis for the members of the military as they explore the various tasks that they have been assigned. The shared understanding also extends to the members of the military having an understanding of their operational environment, and the purpose of the operations, which they are undertaking (Sousa & Van Dierendonck, 2016). The concept of shared understanding will apply to my assignment as a sergeant since it will be one of the critical points of my interaction with the soldiers and other workers who will be under my command.
The third principle that will apply to my future assignment after graduating from SMC will be the provision of a clear commander's intent (Fox, 2017). As aforementioned, clarity in the military is considered as one of the most critical parameters in the operations. A leader in the sector such as a commander or a sergeant should aim to have a concise and clear outline of intent to ensure that confusion is minimized and the friction of the soldiers especially at a time of war is counteracted (Fox, 2017). Therefore, clarity of the commander's intent will base most of my operations that will involve the exercise of authority on the soldiers and other members of the military that will be under me. The conciseness of the points will largely depend on the target audience that I am addressing (Mileham, 2017). For instance, there will be a notable difference in the addressing of the first time soldiers and corporals from those that are used to their work. Therefore, I will use my briefness depending on the experience of the corporals and soldiers that I am dealing with in the military operations (Mileham, 2017). Either way, the concise or detailed information for my juniors will have to be clear to avoid any issues in the smooth running of the military operations.
The fourth principle is the exercise of the disciplined initiative (Boe, Bang & Nilsen, 2015). The laying of a proper foundation in military operations is the essential step towards developing a culture of discipline in a military group (Boe, Bang & Nilsen, 2015). After I build a military team based on mutual trust, established a common understanding and ensured that I had communicated a clear intent to the soldiers, my subordinates will have a boosted confidence to exercise a disciplined initiative (Boe, Bang & Nilsen, 2015). One of the ways that I will make use of to promote the disciplined initiative among my subordinates is by introducing a reward and punishment system (Käihkö, 2015). If a group of soldiers has done a remarkable job in handling the military activities, I will reward them with days off and time off for their families, for instance. On the other hand, if the group of soldiers has handled some of the tasks in the wrong manner, I will have them compensate for what they do (Käihkö, 2015). In my future assignment, I will be open to the mistakes that my subordinates may make on their way to exercising a disciplined initiative (Käihkö, 2015). I will ensure that my reward and punishment system is less stringent on my subordinates but accurate enough to avoid overlooking their mistakes in the handling of military operations.
The fifth mission command principle that will relate to my future assignment after graduating from SMC will be the use of mission orders (Jones, 2015). Besides having subordinates at work, I will also have seniors at the workplace, which will necessitate me to follow their orders. Through the following of orders, I will set an example that my subordinates can follow as they carry out different tasks as a team (Jones, 2015). Mostly, the mission orders will come to me in the form of fragmentary orders, operation orders, and warning orders. From the outlook, the three classes of military orders that I will expect to receive will be different. Thus, in my assignments, I will have to be sure to differentiate the orders and carry them out with the best level of perfection that I can (Verhoeff, Verhagen & Curran, 2015). Apart from the three classes of mission orders that have been mentioned earlier, the orders can be simple or complicated relying on the level of experience I will have had in the military.
The comprehension of the philosophy and concept of mission command is inherent to my future assignments regarding military operations. The history of the philosophy of mission command dates back to the Prussian militaries in the past. The concept of mission command was introduced to ensure that confusion and friction among the soldiers in the field would be reduced. The concept has been replicated to the modern militaries. The application of the concept in modern militaries has not gone through without various vital challenges. The setbacks have presented themselves in the sociological, technological, and organizational aspects as time passes. The various military organizations across the globe have come up with different solutions to the pitfalls of mission command. The concept of mission command has been characterized by the various principles that relate to the field. Such principles have constituted of the building of a cohesive team through trust, the creation of a common understanding in the military and the clarity of the commander's intent in the military operations. The other principles are the exercising of a disciplined initiative and the use of mission orders that have been given by my seniors. Thus, the understanding of the philosophy and the concept of mission command is paramount to the effectiveness of my future assignments.
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