Military Decision Making Process

Military Decision Making Process

Situation:

The commander and his staff focus on recognizing and anticipating battlefield activities in order to decide and act faster than the enemy. The primary product the staff produces for the commander, and for subordinate commanders, is understanding, or situational awareness. True understanding should be the basis for information provided to commanders to make decisions.

The staff officer who performs this mechanical staff functions, no matter how flawlessly, without understanding how commanders make decisions, is useless to his commander.  Staff officers must be able to anticipate the outcome of current operations to develop concepts for a follow-on mission. They must also understand and be able to apply commonly understood doctrine in executing their missions.

Question:

• How can a staff NCO anticipate the outcome of current operations to develop concepts for follow-on-missions?
• As a Staff NCO, what key essential characteristics are necessary along with leader attributes and core competencies?
• While utilizing a personal event or mission, describe the process from the initial step to the final step required for planning and executing a mission or event.
• How do TLP’s work into the MDMP and what is the impact and importance of Step 8 of TLP?
• Briefly describe the roles and responsibilities of each G or S staff ?