Training for Decisive Action - Army University Press

Training for Decisive Action

Stories of Mission Command

Collected Insights from Commanders and Leaders on their Experiences at the National Training Center

Combat Studies Institute Press US Army Combined Arms Center Fort Leavenworth, Kansas

Cover: Donovian Main Battle Tank at Sunset. Courtesy Blackhorse PAO

Training for Decisive Action Stories of Mission Command Collected Insights from Commanders and Leaders on their

Experiences at the National Training Center Operations Group, US Army National Training Center

Combat Studies Institute Press US Army Combined Arms Center Fort Leavenworth, Kansas

Library of Congress

Training for Decisive Action: Stories of Mission Command Collected Insights from Commanders and Leaders on their Experiences at the National Training Center Operations Group, US Army National Training Center Includes appendices and index 1. United States. Army 2. United States Army--Officers. 3. Military art and science. I. Title. Combat Studies Institute Press US Army Combined Arms Center Fort Leavenworth, Kansas 2013954417

CGSC Copyright Registration #13-0202 C/E Editing and layout by Carl W. Fischer 2014

Combat Studies Institute Press publications cover a wide variety of military history topics. The views expressed in this CSI Press publication are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the Department of the Army or the Department of Defense. A full list of CSI Press publications available for downloading can be found at: The seal of the Combat Studies Institute authenticates this document as an official publication of the CSI. It is prohibited to use CSI's official seal on any republication without the express written permission of the Director of CSI.

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Publisher's Note This anthology of senior participants' observations of the Decisive Action Training Environment serves two functions. First, it is explicitly a teaching tool for the operating force to use in preparing commanders and units for an expeditionary future against a hybrid threat. Second, it is itself an artifact, reflecting the current understandings of Army doctrine by its practitioners during a time of turbulence in the force, uncertain resources, and a comprehensive re-engineering of that doctrine. For that reason, some usages may not perfectly accord with doctrinal definitions, and others are not found in doctrine at all. We have nevertheless chosen to retain them for the reader's benefit as an indirect lesson on the complexity of the Army's task going forward from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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Foreword

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" and "only the dead have seen the end of war" are famous quotes by George Santayana. These are the driving forces for military professionals to study the craft and learn from those leaders before them. As we emerge from a period of one specific type of conflict, we as a military must retain the lessons from the last 11 years of conflict and remember the capabilities we trained so intensely on that prepared us for the initial interventions into Iraq and Afghanistan.

To echo the recently published Army Regulation 350-50, the Combined Training Centers (CTCs) are the "engine of change" for collective training in the Army. At the National Training Center (NTC), we are committed to ensuring that the learning and experience gained from completed training rotations set new goals for sustainment and improvement in training and operations that apply across the force. The lessons learned over a decade of combat experience in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere in support of the Global War on Terrorism remain relevant as our Nation's Armed Forces seek to transition. But these lessons must be built upon those fundamental competencies of offensive and defensive operations that have atrophied over that same time. The newly implemented Decisive Action Training Environment presents that complex environment where the core competencies of combined arms maneuver and wide area security must constantly be balanced by agile commanders through the execution of mission command. The introduction of a realistically complex, wicked problem environment offers iterative training opportunities that bolster the need to constantly build upon the observations of completed rotations.

The National Training Center has executed five rotations in the past 18 months. The following compendium offers a collection of stories from leaders that have grown out of those rotations. It focuses on all levels, and is a complimentary volume to the 66 Stories of Battle Command written following the 4ID and 1st Cav rotations of the late 1990s. These stories are a compelling mix of universal challenges and the new complex threat. They will undoubtedly be a wellspring of learning over the next few years. In coordination with our partnered Brigades that executed these rotations, Operations Group and the NTC presents these anecdotes as we strive to meet our Chairmen's vision of leading "the Army's transition to unified land operations" and enabling dialogue and learning that will "identify innovative training methods to reduce overhead without sacrificing training quality, standards or outcomes."

Colonel Paul Calvert Commander, Operations Group National Training Center

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