1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:00,000 2 00:00:05,170 --> 00:00:07,570 Mission command is both a leadership 3 00:00:07,570 --> 00:00:10,649 philosophy and really the practical 4 00:00:10,649 --> 00:00:13,560 exercise of command and control . What 5 00:00:13,560 --> 00:00:15,779 it does is it takes a commander's 6 00:00:15,779 --> 00:00:18,559 authority and promulgates it down 7 00:00:18,559 --> 00:00:20,879 throughout the ranks and the idea is 8 00:00:20,879 --> 00:00:23,280 that we unleash initiative at the lower 9 00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:25,559 levels how do we take the genius of our 10 00:00:25,559 --> 00:00:28,559 airmen and apply them um across the 11 00:00:28,559 --> 00:00:32,380 force . We're gonna expect 12 00:00:32,380 --> 00:00:36,130 you to be artful and interpreting 13 00:00:36,130 --> 00:00:37,860 and executing according to the 14 00:00:37,860 --> 00:00:41,229 commander's intent . I can hand an 15 00:00:41,229 --> 00:00:43,340 airman a checklist and say accomplish 16 00:00:43,340 --> 00:00:45,310 these steps do not deviate that's 17 00:00:45,310 --> 00:00:48,360 compliance . We can also say 18 00:00:49,189 --> 00:00:51,078 Here is the commander's objective 19 00:00:51,078 --> 00:00:53,133 here's the mission you're assigned . 20 00:00:54,419 --> 00:00:58,200 Now go execute . Then the 21 00:00:58,200 --> 00:01:00,990 team has to develop mutual trust , uh , 22 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:03,560 it's really the bedrock of being able 23 00:01:03,560 --> 00:01:05,727 to know who to the left of you and who 24 00:01:05,727 --> 00:01:07,671 to the right of you , what they're 25 00:01:07,671 --> 00:01:09,671 going to do , so you know how to to 26 00:01:09,671 --> 00:01:11,750 operate with uh uh clear contract 27 00:01:11,750 --> 00:01:14,680 between airmen . As airmen in the 28 00:01:14,680 --> 00:01:16,847 profession of arms continue to provide 29 00:01:16,847 --> 00:01:18,847 this capability to our nation so so 30 00:01:18,847 --> 00:01:21,239 that we can protect the values we all 31 00:01:21,239 --> 00:01:23,183 agreed on that we hold most dear . 32 00:01:23,183 --> 00:01:25,350 That's why we swear to that oath is we 33 00:01:25,350 --> 00:01:27,517 are going to protect those things that 34 00:01:27,517 --> 00:01:29,628 our nation holds dear and in order to 35 00:01:29,628 --> 00:01:31,961 do that we have to build a winning team . 36 00:01:31,961 --> 00:01:34,072 We have to be airmen that are focused 37 00:01:34,072 --> 00:01:36,072 on serving others , not ourselves . 38 00:01:37,279 --> 00:01:39,599 Thirdly , you have to have shared 39 00:01:39,599 --> 00:01:42,040 situational awareness . If the team 40 00:01:42,040 --> 00:01:44,207 doesn't know what's going on , they're 41 00:01:44,207 --> 00:01:46,262 gonna make bad decisions and so this 42 00:01:46,262 --> 00:01:48,429 two way dialogue up the chain and down 43 00:01:48,429 --> 00:01:50,739 the chain to make sure we have clear 44 00:01:50,739 --> 00:01:52,739 understanding that shared awareness 45 00:01:52,940 --> 00:01:55,959 then allows the team to exercise 46 00:01:55,959 --> 00:01:59,029 disciplined initiative . So we might 47 00:01:59,029 --> 00:02:01,029 lose communications we might have a 48 00:02:01,029 --> 00:02:03,029 problem with electricity . We might 49 00:02:03,029 --> 00:02:05,085 have a problem with power , we might 50 00:02:05,085 --> 00:02:04,949 have a problem with gas . We might get 51 00:02:04,949 --> 00:02:07,005 attacked and we might lose a certain 52 00:02:07,005 --> 00:02:08,750 percentage of our force if I'm 53 00:02:08,750 --> 00:02:10,789 constrained by instruction , I no 54 00:02:10,789 --> 00:02:12,678 longer able to execute , but if I 55 00:02:12,678 --> 00:02:14,900 understand the commander's intent and I 56 00:02:14,900 --> 00:02:17,011 have the authority from the commander 57 00:02:17,011 --> 00:02:19,178 to deviate from instruction to achieve 58 00:02:19,178 --> 00:02:21,067 his intent . I can assume risk in 59 00:02:21,067 --> 00:02:23,289 certain areas to ensure we continue the 60 00:02:23,289 --> 00:02:25,345 mission , and accepting risk doesn't 61 00:02:25,345 --> 00:02:27,233 change the odds . That's why it's 62 00:02:27,233 --> 00:02:29,400 incumbent that we mitigate that risk , 63 00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:31,511 but we often can become paralyzed and 64 00:02:31,511 --> 00:02:33,456 risk averse and so mission command 65 00:02:33,456 --> 00:02:35,456 tells that subordinate echelon that 66 00:02:35,456 --> 00:02:37,622 it's OK to move out once you've looked 67 00:02:37,622 --> 00:02:39,678 at the risk in the appropriate way . 68 00:02:40,309 --> 00:02:42,531 It's actually a much more difficult and 69 00:02:42,531 --> 00:02:44,753 dangerous place to operate , and that's 70 00:02:44,753 --> 00:02:46,753 why it's an artful skill that we're 71 00:02:46,753 --> 00:02:49,619 working very hard to infuse into our 72 00:02:49,619 --> 00:02:52,809 leaders at every echelon of . The 73 00:02:52,809 --> 00:02:54,809 technology that we've relied on for 74 00:02:54,809 --> 00:02:56,976 years and that technological advantage 75 00:02:56,976 --> 00:03:00,289 is frankly shrinking . We face two 76 00:03:00,289 --> 00:03:03,169 nuclear armed peers who have weapon 77 00:03:03,169 --> 00:03:06,039 systems who can rival and perhaps 78 00:03:06,039 --> 00:03:08,779 outclass . Some of our own capabilities 79 00:03:09,110 --> 00:03:11,166 our ability to prevail on victory is 80 00:03:11,166 --> 00:03:14,630 gonna be based on our airmen 81 00:03:14,789 --> 00:03:17,669 outthinking the adversary , our ability 82 00:03:17,669 --> 00:03:20,429 to be creative , to think outside the 83 00:03:20,429 --> 00:03:22,179 box , to take initiative . 84 00:03:24,259 --> 00:03:26,370 It's both something that we should do 85 00:03:26,479 --> 00:03:28,535 and it's something we may have to do 86 00:03:28,535 --> 00:03:28,910 moving forward .