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here do the battlefield and of military operations. Several factors General Patton believed he could influ-
the decisions you, as the bat- contributed to that (see the figure). ence the battlefield without making de-
talion commander, start and We all have seen the war movies where cisions on the battlefield itself.
end? How many decisions do you make the military leaders make decisions and We are not “General Pattons.” But
on a battlefield? What are those deci- give orders throughout the movies. The some of you will command a battalion
sions? classic movie Patton comes to mind. in a fight or conflict. And many others
During Operation Iraqi Freedom But, truly, how many command deci- will be the command sergeant majors,
(OIF), between 20 March 2003 (the sions did General George S. Patton, Jr., executive officers, S3s and battery/com-
start of the ground war) and 1 May 2003 really make in that movie? Not many. pany commanders or first sergeants of
(the day President George W. Bush Mostly he conveyed his presence, per- battalions in conflict.
declared major combat over), as the sonality and passion to speak to his So, where and when do the “battle-
commander of 2d Battalion, 4th Field subordinates and allowed them to make field” and the decisions start? Experi-
Artillery (Multiple-Launch Rocket Sys- decisions. ence tells me that the battlefield starts
tem—2-4 FA (MLRS)—I made only During a 1942 interview, General before one ever assumes command. This
four real decisions. Patton said, “My theory is that a com- is reiterated by the classic speech George
As a battalion commander, if you start mander does what is necessary to ac- C. Scott forcefully delivered as General
early, you’ll make few decisions on the complish his mission and that nearly 80 Patton in the beginning of the movie.2
battlefield—your battalion will make percent of his mission is to arouse mo- Consequently, the decisions also start
them without hesitation and in the flow rale in his men.”1 These words indicate before command.
What decision affecting a future battle-
field can you possibly make before as-
Battlefield Decisions of a suming command? The decision of what
Battalion
kind of a commander to be.
Colonel Charles R. De Witt (now re-
tired) once talked to me about the ten-
dency to have two kinds of military
leaders: the ones who look down and
Commander
into the units they command and the
others who look up and out of the units.
The focus of the down-and-in com-
mander is strictly on the unit with no
concern for what is going on around
By Lieutenant Colonel Billy F. Sprayberry him. The danger is in not seeing the big
picture and not understanding where
the battalion fits into that picture.
The up-and-out commander’s focus is
on the big picture and where the unit
fits. The danger is in risking not under-
standing the personality and capabili-
ties of his unit.
However, a third type of commander
focuses down-and-in, and, every so of-
ten, peeks up to see what else is going on.
How often the commander looks up de-
pends on the situation. For example, once
rumors of deployment surface, his peek-
up times come more often.
This third commander has the advan-
tage of understanding his unit and its
capabilities yet still seeing the big pic-
ture. He can count on his experience
and military education gained over
many years to assess the situation
and know where his unit fits.