“Thinking Inside the Box” brings you interviews with the United States Army’s experts in combined arms maneuver, the Observer Coach Trainers (OC/Ts) of Operations Group, at the National Training Center (NTC), Fort Irwin, California.

While the Army focused on counterinsurgency, we had the luxury of taking time to make decisions, but large-scale combat operations will not afford this indulgence. Appropriately delegating decision-making authority allows leaders closer to a problem to make decentralized, rapid decisions rooted in the principles of mission command. Codifying who can make decisions prevents staff and subordinates waiting on a time sensitive action, because they are not sure if they are empowered to take action. Thinking through delegating decisions before arriving at the National Training Center will produce payoffs for commanders who understand when and where they must be present to make the essential decisions they can make. By defining who can make decisions, units will understand the systems needed to support making those decisions in various command posts, allowing effective dispersion of command posts to increase survivability. To discuss how to delegate decision making, we interviewed two members of our Bronco Team, our senior brigade trainer, LTC Adam Latham, and our senior Judge Advocate trainer, MAJ Timothy Davis.

Recommended Resources:

Lt. Gen. Milford Beagle, Brig. Gen Jason Slider, and Lt. Col. Matthew Arrol, “The Graveyard of Command Posts,” Military Review: https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Journals/Military-Review/English-Edition-Archives/May-June-2023/Graveyard-of-Command-Posts/

Access example authorities matrixes on the Ops Group MilSuite at https://www.milsuite.mil/book/groups/ntc-operations-group (Common Access Card required).

We encourage you to watch our TAC Talk series on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@tactalks-operationsgroupntc.

Episode hosted by Maj. Robert Rose and edited by Annette Pritt