Orders play a critical role in the conduct of military operations and for Commanders, represent a core skill. This page is the start of a project to collect historic orders and to analyse them in order to distil the art of orders writing and delivery. This will be a collection of good orders, bad orders, famous and infamous, along with a discussion about the prerequisites, delivery and effectiveness of orders.
How to write a good set of Orders
Writing orders with Mission Command
It goes without saying that the Orders are inherently linked to Mission Command. Mission Command enables quicker production of orders. It does require
Timeliness and the writing of orders
Our interview with Dr Jim Storr on Time and Timeliness for orders, described a series of timeframes for the generation of orders. These time frames look extremely tight (unrealistic), but what they trade in detail they gain in time, which tightens up the OODA loop. These time frames were realistic in WW2, without the IT support.
LEVEL To Produce Orders To Execute
Battalion 1 hour 4 hours
Brigade 2 hours 8 hours
Division 3 hours 12 hours
Corps 4 hours 16 hours
This is obviously very difficult to achieve if using a full JMAP (Joint Military Appreciation Process) or MDMP (Military Decision-Making Process).
Examples of Orders
The order for the Charge of the Light Brigade is a classic case of poor orders. They were given by Lord Raglan and drafted by BRIG Richard Airey. They were carried by CAPT Louis Nolan to LTGEN George Bingham, the 3rd Earl of Lucan, the commander of the Cavalry.