General Patton and Mission Command

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General Patton’s Utilization of Mission Command Within the Battle of the Bulge Mission Command Battle Analysis 28 May 2013 Operational leaders down to the platoon and squad level have recently faced increasingly complex missions in uncertain operational environments. Accordingly, Army doctrine has shifted to officially recognize mission command, which enables leaders at the lowest level feasible to “exercise disciplined initiative” in the accomplishment of a larger mission (ADP 6-0, 2012, p. 2). Mission command is broken down into six tenants: understand, visualize, describe, direct, lead, and assess (Mission Command 2011, 3-5). During The Battle of the Bulge, General Patton understood the intent two levels up, visualizing COAs (courses of action) for both the allies and the enemy and leading his Army into combat while directing his officers and Soldiers to meet his intent. His greatest military achievement came in the Battle of the Bulge, where his tactical leadership and logistical genius helped him turn around his main forces to drive back the German’s final counter-offensive. General Patton successfully utilized mission command through understanding, visualizing, leading, and directing while commanding the biggest and bloodiest battle during World War II. To understand how General Patton utilized mission command to win the Battle of the Bulge, we must first understand the summary of events leading up to the Battle of the Bulge. World War II in Europe began in September 1939 and can be summarized into several main segments. The first being the German defeat of Polish and the surprisingly easy occupation of most of Western Europe. While the rest of Europe was overrun, the British stood alone against Hitler and his army. Winston Churchill vowed to fight as long as necessary to defeat Hitler. The
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