Mission Command Research Paper

Mission Command and Public Affairs From the beginning of my Army career, due to the nature of my military occupational specialty, I have operated within the philosophy of “Mission Command.” As a young Soldier, I was expected to take the initiative to find stories about my unit that supported the command messages of my unit. At the time, I did not realize that I was exercising disciplined initiative and operating within the commander’s intent. Now, as I complete the Sergeants Major Academy, I have a thorough understanding of how public affairs is linked to mission command as a warfighting function. The purpose of this paper is to describe how public affairs is vitally linked to the mission command warfighting function and how applying the mission command principles will make me a more effective staff non-commissioned officer and leader.
Inform and Influence According to Army Doctrine Reference Manual (ADRP) 6-0, (2012) one of the three primary tasks for a commander is to inform and influence both internal and external audiences. In my experience, even the best leaders have a difficult time directly influencing a wide range of audiences. It is unrealistic to expect one person to be able to reach the
As a sergeant major responsible for a public affairs office, I will need to apply all of the principles of mission command. I must build a cohesive team; this applies not only to my section, but also to the other IRC elements. As a leader in the staff I need to have open communication across the staff, I must resist becoming a stove-piped section, that way I foster shared understanding. My section is required to produce a public affairs annex and it should be nested with the commander’s intent. Quality public affairs is proactive; this means my section needs to exercise disciplined initiative and in order to take that initiative one must accept prudent