Krieg im 21. Jahrhundert

[Quintus Fabius]

Mission Command Is Broken: Col Jim Storr on Bloated HQs, 750-Page Orders, and How to Fix C2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LQzovJnKDM

This interview looks at how HQs and C2 have deteriorated since 1946, where drills and TTPS had been honed by six years of large-scale combat operations. Our guest today is Dr Jim Storr, a retired LTCOL from the British Army and author of Something Rotten: Land Command in the 21st Century.

Some of the key points:

Orders have ballooned to 750 pages, delaying action and confusing subordinates.
WWII brigades issued usable orders within two hours under fire.
Battalions commonly delivered one-hour orders, accelerating tempo and initiative forward.
Twice the planning speed delivers five times the battlefield effectiveness.
More sensors and bandwidth produced overload, slowing commanders’ critical decisions.
Oversized headquarters became lucrative targets; one missile created chaos everywhere.
Staff creep meant everyone talked, while no one decisively decided.
The ‘golden thread’ linking strategy, operations, and tactics has been severed.
Validation exercises rewarded process compliance rather than combat effectiveness directly.
Doorstop orders added negative value, arriving late and unread anyway.
Senior leaders must state a clear purpose, then protect decentralised execution.
Shorter orders, simpler coordination, generated faster, better decisions under pressure.
Separate staff collaboration from command decision to compress cycles dramatically.
Trust juniors, tolerate well-intentioned failure, and enable initiative at scale always.