Lieutenant Colonel Frank Hoffman, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve (Retired) and Colonel Pat Garrett, U.S. Marine Corps (Retired)
The Marine Corps is engaged in a lively debate about what the future force should look like.1 But amid the discussion Force Design 2030 sparked, one topic central to warfighting has not received the attention it deserves: the exercise of command.
Marine Corps doctrine embeds command within the concept of mission command, which has been central to the service’s philosophy of warfare and leadership since 1995.2 Mission command has become an article of faith, its tenets receiving rote recitation by senior commanders. Yet, in practice, it is seldom encouraged—at least as it originally was understood when it emerged after the Vietnam War. So, as today’s security environment becomes increasingly complex, questions arise: Does mission command still work? Does a concept born many years before the IT revolution, the rise of artificial intelligence, and multidomain warfare still apply?
Historical Underpinnings
Mission command has a long pedigree. Its genesis is in the teachings of Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke “the Elder” in the late 19th century. It further grew in the practice of Field Marshal Alfred von Schlieffen, and of von Moltke’s nephew, General Helmuth von Moltke “the Younger.”3 Leaders in the U.S. Navy have long expressed a command philosophy that embraces the essence of mission command.
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