Mission Command: in Ancient Rome, 218 BC-AD 100 by Michael J Rasak ISBN 9781737204619, 1737204614 instant download

Mission Command: in Ancient Rome, 218 BC-AD 100 by Michael J Rasak ISBN 9781737204619, 1737204614 instant download

Over the last two decades, the concept of “mission command” has pervaded US Army doctrine and dominated much of its intellectual discourse. This thesis seeks to contribute to this discussion by examining antecedents of mission command found in the armies of Ancient Rome (218 BC to AD 100). 
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By drawing on extant literary evidence, the author argues that Rome’s highly offensive and initiative-oriented way of war influenced its development of a command structure that prioritized battlefield dispersion, subordinate autonomy, information sharing, inherently flexible mission orders, and decentralized operations. 
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The effort Roman leaders took to codify and institutionalize these processes moreover reveals their reliance on concepts resembling the modern principles of mission command. This thesis draws three additional conclusions: 
(1) nineteenth century Prussia was not the first state to develop a command system akin to mission command, 
(2) mission command is a timeless approach to wartime leadership, 
(3) the US Army should continue to employ mission command as its primary approach to command and control.