Abstract
The military performance of the German army during the first years of World War II fascinates many military analysts. For example, Wilson (1989) asserts that “[i]t was, in the opinion of many, the greatest military victory of modern times” (p. 3). Within a period of only six weeks, the German army defeated the combined forces of Britain, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. It has been argued that this success was attributable to a superior German military doctrine calledAuftragstaktik. Auftragstaktik—translatedas “mission command”—is a system of decentralized command under which a subcommander is assigned a mission without being told how it should be accomplished.Auftragstaktik assumes that subcommanders think and act relatively autonomously.
Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingeuity.
—General George S. Patton
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Egter van Wissekerke, F J. D C (1996) Opdrachtgenchte commandovoenng als leidend doctrmebeginsel van de Konmklilke Landmacht [Mission-oriented command as a leading doctrine principle in the Dutch Army]Militaire Spectator 165481–497
Gal, R (1986).A portrait of the Israeli soldierNew York Greenwood Press
Kipnis, D (1996) Trust and technology. In R M Kramer & T R Tyler (Eds)Trust in organizations Frontiers of theory and research(pp 39–50) Thousand Oaks, CA. Sage
Mishra, A. K (1996). Organizational responses to crisis The centrality of trust In R M Kramer & T R Tyler (Eds)Trust in organizations Frontiers of theory and research( pp 261–287 ) Thousand Oaks, CA Sage
Mockaitis, T (1997) Civil conflict intervention Peacekeeping or enforcement? In A Morrison, D. A Fraser, & J D Kiras (Eds)Peacekeeping with muscle The use of force in international conflict resolution(pp 31–50) Clementsport, NS Canadian Peacekeeping Press
Murray, W (1992)German military effectivenessBaltimore Nautical and Aviation Publishing
Nelsen, J (1989)AuftragstaktikA case for decentralized combat leadership In L. J Matthews & D. E Brown (Eds),The challenge of military leadership(pp 26–39 ) Washington, DC Pergamon-Brassey’s.
Netherlands (1996)Landmacht Doctrine Publicatie I[Royal Netherlands Army Doctrine Publication I] The Hague, Netherlands Royal Netherlands Army, Doctrine Committee/Sdu
Reimer, D J (1996, January—February) Leadership for the 21st century Empowerment, environment and the golden rule.Military Review76(1), 5–9
Vogelaar, A, Kramer, F, Metselaar, M, Witteveen, A, Bosch, J, Kuipers, H., & Nederhof, F (1997).Leiderschap in crisisomstandigheden Het functioneren van pelotons-en groepscommandanten in UNPROFOR[Leadership in crisis circumstances The functioning of platoon and group commanders in UNPROFOR] The Hague, Netherlands: Sdu
Wilmink, M J (1991)Leidinggeven in de Koninklyke Landmacht[Leadership in the Dutch Army] The Hague, Netherlands Beleidsdocument
Wilson, J(1989) Bureaucracy What government agencies do and why they do it New York Basic Books.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2000 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Vogelaar, A.L.W., Kramer, EH. (2000). Mission Command in Ambiguous Situations. In: McCann, C., Pigeau, R. (eds) The Human in Command. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4229-2_15
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4229-2_15
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-6899-1
Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-4229-2
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive