Mission Command concept in the context of Russia-Ukraine war

Abstract

The Mission Command concept was methodically developed over 200 years ago in the form of Auftragstactic by Prussian military officers analyzing the successes of Napoleon's army. In other Western armies, it is also shaped based on combat experience. Therefore, it is a practical concept, based on the realities of war, and not an academic concept resulting from theoretical research. Nevertheless, it is full of apparent and intuitive contradictions, which causes misunderstandings in military structures. Therefore, the experience of the Ukrainian army, which implements and uses this concept in the fight against a much stronger enemy, deserves special attention. These experiences, more than anything else, should become an important point of reference also for the Polish army, in which this concept has been implemented for two decades.