Defence Forces Review 2010

Defence Forces Review 2010

www.military.ie Óglaigh na hÉireann The Defence f orces D e f e n c e fo r c e s l r e l a n D r ev l ew 2010 Defence Forces Review 2010 vol 7 Printed by the Defence Forces Printing Press j11055/July2010/3000 Óglaigh na hÉireann Defence Forces Review 2010 ISSN 1649-7066 Published for the Military Authorities by the Public Relations Section at the Chief of Staff’s Branch, and printed at the Defence Forces Printing Press, Parkgate Street, Dublin 8 © Copyright in accordance with Section 56 of the Copyright Act, 1963, Section 7 of the University of Limerick Act, 1989 and Section 6 of the Dublin University Act, 1989. Preface As Director of Defence Forces’ Public Relations it gives me great pleasure to launch the Defence Forces Review for 2010. In this our seventeenth year, the Review continues to provide a forum for contributors to raise current issues, provoke thought and generate discussion across the wider Defence Community. The contributors to this edition are drawn from serving and retired military members as well as members of the academic community with interest in defence and security related issues. The broad range of subjects covered indicates the challenges and the level of complexity facing the contemporary Irish soldier both at home and abroad. As this year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the deployment of Irish troops to the Congo I am particularly delighted to have a contribution regarding that mission in this year’s edition. The Editor of the Defence Review for 2010 is Comdt Mark Hearns. Despite a very heavy schedule as an Instructor in the Command and Staff School he assumed this editorial burden with relish and commitment, displaying huge enthusiasm in pursuing this project. For this year’s edition he has assembled an outstanding group of writers, all of whom I wish to thank personally for the effort involved in their work. The strength of the Review relies on the quality of its voluntary contributors, and I am delighted to say that this year’s product is a very strong one indeed. I would like conclude by thanking the staff of the Defence Forces Printing Press and the staff of An Cosantoir for their assistance in publishing the document. Kieran Brennan Lt Col Director of Defence Forces’ Public Relations The material contained in these articles are the views of the authors and do not purport to represent the official views of the Defence Force. Editor’s Note This year we have included articles exploring both historical as well as contemporary issues impacting on the Defence Community. These articles examine areas such as the nature of warfare, the domains of command and leadership and various themes that could be gathered under the umbrella term of ‘the comprehensive approach.’ These themes include civil military cooperation and coordination, human rights and duties under international law. The contributions from serving and retired members of the Defence Forces are complemented by articles from established as well as up and coming writers from NUI Maynooth and DCU. We have also included the abstracts from the MA Theses and Higher Diploma in Arts in Leadership, Management and Defence Studies completed by the twenty two students of the 65th Senior Command and Staff Course. These papers provide an indication of the broad range of research currently conducted within the Defence Forces. Any reader who would like to read a complete paper should contact the Defence Forces Library in the DFTC. Finally it is important to emphasise that the Review is reliant on voluntary contributions for its content. I would like to sincerely thank all the writers for their thought provoking articles and encourage those considering submitting something to do so for the 2011 edition! There is an open invitation to the wider Defence Community to tender relevant articles. The staff and readership look forward to reading and publishing your work in the years ahead! Mark Hearns Comdt TABLE OF CONTENTS Article Title Page Mission Command: The Command Panacea? A Study of the Potential Impact of Mission Command Philosophy on the Irish Defence Forces in Peace Support Operations 1 Comdt Johnny Whittaker The Niemba Ambush: a Reappraisal 9 Dr Edward Longwill How Helpful is the Concept of Total War? 25 Comdt Ian Byrne DSM Responsibility to Protect: A Break with the Past or More of the Same? 35 Jenny Flynn United Nations Mission in Kosovo The Human Rights Advisory Panel 43 John Joe Ryan Challenges of Civil Military Cooperation/ Coordination in Humanitarian Relief 49 Mr Graham Heaslip The Ultimate Cost of Poor Decision Making is the Loss of Human Life 63 Comdt Tim Daly How do Cultural Dimensions Impact on Negotiation in a Military Context? 73 Comdt Colm Ó Luasa Does Neutrality Law Matter 81 Simon Deignan Peace Dividends and Statecraft Instruments – United States and European Union Economic Intervention Facilitating Peace in Northern Ireland 89 Col Michael Beary Operation Cast Lead: Legal and Doctrinal Asymmetries in a Military Operation 95 Col Desmond Travers (Retd) Abstracts – 65 Senior C&S Course, MA Theses and Higher Diploma in Arts in Leadership Management and Defence Studies 107 Short Biographical Details 131 Mission Command: The Command Panacea? Mission Command: The Command Panacea? A Study of the Potential Impact of Mission Command Philosophy on the Irish Defence Forces in Peace Support Operations Comdt Johnny Whittaker “Every soldier carries a marshal’s baton in his knapsack” (Napoleon, cited by Johnson, 2003: 101.) Introduction1 Mission Command (MC)2 philosophy was first documented and developed by the Prussian army in response to its crushing defeat by Napoleon’s army at Jena in 1806. Since that time, MC has continued to develop across the entire spectrum of military operations, and has become the command philosophy of choice among many of the world’s militaries. Given that today’s world is defined by a complex and multi-faceted security environment, an appropriate command philosophy is essential to mission accomplishment. The Irish Defence Forces (DF) operate within this environment, providing up to ten per cent of its personnel to PSOs at any one time as part of its commitment to the United Nations Standby Arrangement System (UNSAS). The DF have “to respond to . the more complex and demanding nature of international peace support operations,”3 wherein “PSO mandates are increasingly robust and complex.”4 Against this backdrop the DF’s rigid hierarchical organisational structure, unique culture, and absence of a promulgated command philosophy potentially present difficulties for commanders at all levels engaged in PSOs. The Genesis and Definition of Mission Command After their crushing defeat at Jena, the Prussians re-examined their highly centralised system of command and took fundamental steps to reposition their philosophy of war-fighting and how they led. They developed a concept they called Auftragstaktik.5 After much soul-searching, the entire military machine underwent an overhaul which had the Auftragstaktik concept at its heart. Since the first demonstration of its utility by the Prussians, MC has continued to evolve and has been adopted and employed by a range of successful military bodies, most notably NATO in the 1990s. So what is Mission Command? In summary, MC is a style of military leadership developed to allow leaders to perform in complex, change-intensive and high-pressure environments, by promoting decentralised command, alignment, speed of action, and initiative (Figure 1). 1 Given the imposed space implications, this article represents an abridged version of my original thesis. Its reduction in size necessitated the omission of much of the supporting research and analysis undertaken and methodologies employed to answer the research question posed. 2 Mission Command means freedom to make decisions in a situation that one is faced with without referral, but operating within set guidelines and in pursuance of a superior’s intent. The ability to decide on how to resolve a problem, given an end requirement (Spacie, cited in Essens, Vogelaar, Tanercan and Winslow, The Human in Command: Peace Support Operations, 2007, p. 205). 3 Department of Defence (2007) Land Component Handbook, Department of Defence, Dublin, Defence Forces Press Office. 4 Department of Defence (2008) Strategy Statement, Department of Defence, Dublin, Defence Forces Press Office. 5 Author’s emphasis. The term can be translated loosely to ‘mission-type order’, what we today call Mission Command. 1 Defence Forces Review 2010 In essence it is a methodology that allows staff to understand their commander’s intentions. The staff are told what needs to be achieved and why, but not how. For the purpose of this essay MC will be defined as “a system of decentralized command under which a subordinate commander is assigned a mission without being told how it should be accomplished.”6 LEADERSHIP IN HIGH STAKES ENVIRONS METHODOLOGY VISION / PLANNING COMMUNICATION MISSION SCENARIO BRIEFING DE-BRIEFING PLANNING REHEARSAL • CASCADE • PROGRESS • ALIGNMENT • REVIEW • CLARITY • IMPROVEMENT • DIRECTION • INTELLIGENCE • SUCCESSES • MISSION SCOPE DEVELOPMENT OF BEST POSSIBLE COURSE OF ACTION Figure 1: Steps of Mission Command (Riley, 2005:4)7 Aim The aim of this essay is to present the reader with an overview of MC; providing the reader with a background of how and why it has evolved within the military over time and thereafter to inform the reader of the current discourse which surrounds this highly relevant topic. Having traced its origins and defined MC, the author will

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