Sound Military Decision

by Naval War College

THE INAUGURATION OF THE PLANNED ACTION

(The Third Step—The Formulation and Issue of Directives)

In the discussion which now follows, it is demonstrated that, if the second step (Chapter VII) has been carried through completely, the formulation of directives requires only the completion of details of the Order Form, which is explained. The various types of naval plans and directives are also described.

Scope of the Third Step. As previously stated (in Chapter V, on page 107), the inauguration of the planned action (the third step) begins when the commander forms the intention of immediately promulgating, as one or more directives, his solution of the problem represented by the second step. The third step ends at the moment when the problem becomes one of supervising the planned action in the course of its execution.

Military Plans and Military Directives. A plan is a proposed scheme, procedure, or method of action for the attainment of an objective. It is one of the essential links between decision and action.

A directive, in the general sense, initiates or governs conduct or procedure. It is the means by which one's will or intent is made known to others. Sometimes the word is employed as a synonym for "order"; at others, it carries the significance of various instructions ranging from the simple to the complex; at still others, it denotes a plan formulated to be placed in effect in a particular contingency or when so directed. In all cases, a directive, to be suitable as a guide for others, has as its origin a plan.

The words plan and directive are used herein as follows:—A plan may exist only in the mind. Even if formulated and set down in writing, it may receive no distribution. A plan continues to be exclusively a plan so long as it concerns the originating commander alone, and it never loses its identity as a proposed procedure or method of action. When, however, the commander forms the intent of promulgating the plan immediately, the plan becomes also a directive. At this point, as noted in the preceding paragraph ("Scope of the Third Step"), the execution phase begins, from the standpoint of the exercise of mental power, with the inauguration of the planned action.

A directive may therefore be (1) an order effective upon receipt, in which case it may be an order placing in effect a plan already issued; or a directive may be (2) a formulated plan which the commander intends to issue immediately to his subordinates.

Accordingly, certain written instruments prepared under the designation of plans are also included under the classification of directives. In the use of these terms hereinafter, the distinction between a plan viewed as a basis for a directive, and a plan intended to be promulgated as a directive, will be indicated in the context.

Whether written or mental, the complete plan will cover the scope of the Decision, and will be the commander's method of procedure for his future conduct of operations. A commander may, or may not, formulate his complete plan in writing, or embody it in a formal directive which will provide for the execution, in full, of the Decision of his estimate. He may find that his plan divides into several parts, and he may make separate provision for the execution of each of these parts. While the integrity of a plan depends upon the soundness of its essential details, the plan is properly formulated as a directive or directives projected in detail, only so far into the future as the commander's estimate of the situation assures him of reasonable freedom of action (see [page 57]).