Centralized Control and Decentralized Execution

Download or read book Centralized Control and Decentralized Execution written by Clint Hinote and published by . This book was released on 2009-03-02 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Lt Col Clint Hinote looks at recent combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, interested particularly with the operational intersection of air and ground forces. He discovered a continuing dialog about one of the Air Force's major tenets-centralized control, decentralized execution. He suggests that all parties, both ground and air advocates, may need to reexamine the purpose and application of this doctrinal point. All services since World War II have been interested in this issue; everyone is seeking to make air/ground operations both effective and efficient. He points out that the issue between centralization and decentralization has an enduring quality, too, one that goes beyond air/ground operations, and he employs the famous theoretician, B. H. Liddell Hart, to suggest that centralization/ decentralization is always a compromise in combat. Hinote calls on Airmen specifically to examine this issue because they need to communicate better its application in operations. Hinote's primary premise is that Airmen need to understand that there is an inherent need for balance between centralization and decentralization. He again uses Hart to underline the message that there is a service proclivity to seek service points of view which preclude balance. Hinote takes it head-on. He examines the tenet, analyzing current criticisms in Iraq and Afghanistan, and recommends a three-step course: (1) evaluate the common language; (2) create doctrine to show Airmen the necessity for flexibility; and (3) apply the doctrine for a more flexible approach to command and control arrangements-moving execution away from dogma and back to sound doctrine.