Mission Command 2.0: From an Individualist to a Collectivist Model

Anthony C. King, the chair of War Studies at the University of Warwick, recently authored The Combat Soldier: Infantry Tactics and Cohesion in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries (2013 Oxford University Press, 2013) and Frontline: Combat and Cohesion in the Twenty-First Century (Oxford University Press, 2015). He is currently writing a book on divisional command which will be published next year. ABSTRACT: This article specifi es the distinctive character of mission command in the twenty-fi rst century by examining the generalships of Stanley McChrystal and James Mattis. These examples contrast the historical attention to immediate tactical tasks with today’s application, which involves a deep and enduring interdependence between commanders across echelons so that decisions are closely aligned.