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Air & Space Power
Journal - Fall 2004
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Vortices |
Defining Decentralized Execution in Order to Recognize
Centralized Execution
Lt Col Woody W. Parramore, USAF, Retired*
*The author is a doctrine development specialist at Headquarters Air Force Doctrine Center, Maxwell AFB, Alabama.
Because the definition of
decentralized execution is imprecise, Airmen cannot coherently define the
concept or recognize centralized execution. They may be able to tell you what
decentralized execution tries to achieve, but can they tell you what it is? Or
isn’t? Do we in some cases practice centralized execution and call it something
else? Do the orders we issue and receive influence or confuse the issue of our
operating mode?
If these questions offend
you or if you violently disagree, stop right now and ask five Airmen in your
immediate vicinity to briefly define the Air Force tenet of centralized control
and decentralized execution. If you get less than consistent, logical, and
succinct answers, resume reading. Now let’s review the first and foundational
concept—centralized control.
Joint Publication (JP) 1-02,
Department of
Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms, defines centralized control as
follows: “In joint air operations, placing within one commander the
responsibility and authority for planning, directing, and coordinating a
military operation or group/category of operations.”1 Note that this
definition is limited to joint air operations and accurately reflects the fact
that airpower is best employed by one commander. Centralized control for
theater air and space operations occurs when one joint force air and space
component commander (JFACC) has responsibility for joint air and space
operations. Likewise, the commander of Air Mobility Command exercises
centralized control of intertheater airlift operations, and the commander of
Fourteenth Air Force does the same for Air Force space operations.
Note that one individual
retains the planning, directing, and coordinating of joint air operations. This
critical point pertains only to joint air operations; that is, this individual
does not share the authority to plan, direct, and coordinate these operations
with peer or subordinate commanders. The latter can plan, direct, and
coordinate their units’ internal operations that support joint air operations,
but the conduct of these air operations is reserved for one commander. This
fact reflects today’s operating practices, which call for one plan embodied in
the air tasking order and one commander—the JFACC—who plans, directs, and
coordinates joint air operations. Airmen understand that a single plan
conceived at the operational level of war, even a highly detailed and
comprehensive one, cannot possibly cope with the demands of modern combat.
Therefore, in order for subordinates to perform at their maximum capability,
centralized control has to be offset by decentralized execution.
JP 1-02 defines
decentralized execution as “delegation of execution authority to subordinate
commanders.”2 In contrast to the definition of centralized control,
this one applies to all joint force components. However, the definition omits
just what execution
authority means!
Does it mean the authority to shoot prisoners? Of course not! Does it mean the
authority to initiate action? Perhaps. Since the definition does not clarify
the central term execution
authority, the
effort to pin down a more exact definition of decentralized and centralized
execution fails. To understand what the terms in question mean, we need to
break down and examine the phrase delegation
of execution authority.
First, a commander delegates or assigns to a subordinate
commander part of his or her authority, commensurate with the assigned task.3
Next, according to commonly accepted senses of the terms, execution is the act or instance of carrying
out or performing something, and authority is the power to compel obedience or,
in practical application, to issue orders. Thus, in plain language, delegation
of execution authority means that superior commanders authorize subordinate
commanders to issue orders to accomplish an assigned task.
By accepting this
definition, we are technically correct in concluding that joint air operations
are centrally executed since the concept of centralized control excludes
subordinate commanders from the direction of these operations. However, for
theater operations, the JFACC empowers the theater air control system’s (TACS)
subordinate echelons rather than commanders of subordinate units to issue
orders for the direction of combat operations. To accommodate the concept of
centralized control and for purposes of clarity, I propose the following
revision to the definition of decentralized execution: “delegation of authority
to issue orders to subordinate commanders or subordinate elements of a command
and control system to accomplish their assigned tasks.”
Decentralized execution
occurs if a sortie launches and is then controlled by a subordinate element of
the TACS. Close air support missions provide a clear example of decentralized
execution. Centralized execution happens if a sortie carries out its mission
under direct control of an air and space operations center (AOC) (whether a
theater AOC, the tanker airlift control center, or the space AOC), with no
other echelon in the chain of command issuing orders. Hence, most strategic
attack and some interdiction missions are centrally executed. To define some
aerial operations as centrally executed is not to state that they are somehow
wrong; it is simply truth in advertising.
Because of the assumption
that restrictions on tactical flexibility and situational responsiveness mean
that centralized execution is taking place, Airmen sometimes confuse
restrictive orders with centralized execution. Receipt of orders granting the
authority to issue orders to accomplish the assigned task may or may not confer
the ability to show initiative or exercise tactical flexibility. Rather, the
nature of the orders themselves determines the latitude allowed in how they are
carried out. Some orders are almost commands, permitting little freedom to
deviate from instructions; others are mission-type or effects-based, allowing
great discretion in task accomplishment.
Decentralized execution does
not mean delegation of authority to issue orders to wage war as a subordinate
sees fit. It means that the authority to issue orders to accomplish the task
assigned is delegated, and sometimes these tasks are more limited than the
norm. For example, in some recent operations a joint force commander or JFACC
issued restrictive rules of engagement and tasked subordinates to find a target
rather than find and destroy a target. Often this delegation of authority for
limited tasks (resulting in restrictions on tactical decision making) happens
when higher authorities wish to control strategic effects, even at the expense
of tactical efficiency.
Decentralized execution is
the preferred mode of operation for dynamic combat operations. Commanders who
clearly communicate their guidance and intent through broad mission-based or
effects-based orders rather than through narrowly defined tasks maximize that
type of execution. Mission-based or effects-based guidance allows subordinates
the initiative to exploit opportunities in rapidly changing, fluid situations.
The new definition of decentralized execution proposed here permits Airmen to distinguish between it and centralized execution and to acknowledge operating in a centralized execution mode. By adopting this definition and encouraging widespread understanding of how we actually operate, we can enable Airmen to discuss how best to perform in the future.
Maxwell AFB, Alabama
Notes
1. Joint Publication (JP) 1-02, Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms, 12 April 2001 (as amended through 23 March 2004), 81. Joint air operations are “air operations performed with air capabilities/forces made available by components in support of the joint force commander’s operations or campaign objectives, or in support of other components of the joint force.” JP 3-30, Command and Control for Joint Air Operations, 5 June 2003, GL-6.
2. JP 1-02, Department of Defense Dictionary, 143.
3. Delegation of authority is “the action by which a commander assigns part of his or her authority commensurate with the assigned task to a subordinate commander. While ultimate responsibility cannot be relinquished, delegation of authority carries with it the imposition of a measure of responsibility. The extent of the authority delegated must be clearly stated.” JP 1-02, Department of Defense Dictionary, 149.
Disclaimer
The conclusions and opinions expressed in this document are those of the author cultivated in the freedom of expression, academic environment of Air University. They do not reflect the official position of the U.S. Government, Department of Defense, the United States Air Force or the Air University.