Command Decision-Making: Experience Counts

Abstract

Abstract : Decision-making is the mainstay of military leadership and command. Due to the changed nature of the current military environment, military commanders can no longer rely solely on the traditional Military Decision-making Process (MDMP). Instead, commanders must adapt decision-making processes to overcome the uncertainty of a rapidly changing military environment. Since the end of the Cold War, the military environment has transformed into one characterized by asymmetry, uncertain threats, unconventional tactics, technological advancement, and an enemy that can no longer be scripted. The commander's environment is filled with external stressors that influence how and why decisions are made. The MDMP simply does not suit the current military environment. The purpose of this project is to identify current external influences on command decision-making and investigate how these influences have necessitated a change in a commander's decision-making processes. In addition, the author discusses the relationship between the stressors and the commander's reaction to these stressors with regard to decision making. It is this relationship that has been a catalyst for change in command decision-making that reflects the need for a more flexible decision-making alternative. Gary Klein's Recognition-Primed Decision Model (RPD) is a plausible model that lends itself to an adaptive approach to decision making that is more in tune with the uncertainty of today's military environment.