Building Houses that Stand

Nothing breaks a new platoon leader’s heart like hearing the words “change of mission.” I heard them within a couple hours of my first training exercise, rendering days of planning products useless in an instant. The lesson I learned – a painful one we all eventually suffer – exemplifies a common military expression: “No plan survives first contact with the enemy.” While I was slightly discouraged, another question lurked in the recesses of my mind: if a plan is doomed to fail, why create a plan in the first place?

Capt. Wade Redenius of 2-1 IN discusses plan for upcoming mission with 1st Lt. Ross McDonald and 2nd Lt. Tony Eshoo at Yakima Training Center, WA. U.S. Army photo by Maj. Sonie Munson, 2-2 SBCT Public Affairs.

With more experience, I realized the value of planning is not in the plan itself, but rather in the process of planning. A deliberate planning process builds the flexibility your team needs to adapt to the very uncertainty that so often ruins plans. Planning tactical operations is like building a house. Your blueprint will change, but as long as the process is structured and built on the right foundation, the house will stand.

Detailed Planning and Adaptability

While we may not like to admit it, a deliberate planning process guards against our propensity toward laziness. It forces leaders to acknowledge the details of their operating environment and prevents them from hand-waving critical information.

I personally learned this lesson during an early field problem. My platoon was the lead element in a company attack. We reviewed the route endlessly, knowing that timely mission completion depended on our ability to escort 130 soldiers through dense Hawaiian jungle without enemy contact. Approximately halfway through the exhausting movement, my company commander informed me that we had a change of plan. We wouldn’t make our “hit-time” along the current route and we needed to adjust.

As my squad leader and I developed a new route, I felt a wave of relief wash over us with the realization that we had conducted Troop Leading Procedures (TLPs) the day before. Armed with the knowledge and foundation we built in TLPs, my squad leader and I identified obstacles and key terrain well outside of our initial route plan. Despite fatigue and uncertainty, we stepped into the dark and unfamiliar brush confidently.

Newer leaders, such as myself, often succumb to time constraints and the temptation to take shortcuts in TLPs. After reflecting on my own experiences, I would advise new leaders to use the process no matter how menial the mission may seem or how little time might be available. Your operational environment can change completely at a moment’s notice; arm yourself with the ability to adapt.

Building a Common Operational Picture

Soldiers from 508th PIR conduct training along side 2PARA, British paratroopers on November 27th, 2018.

In order for a team to efficiently work together, it’s important that each team member shares the same understanding of the environment and the mission. Conducting an operation without shared understanding is like trying to build a house with construction workers that all have different blueprints. Shared understanding – referred to as a common operational picture (COP) in the
military – comes in many forms. The most typical of these is a map, with
standardized graphic overlays, and a timeline. I quickly learned that the best means by which to generate a COP and drive the creation of shared understanding are the TLPs.

TLPs

Receive mission orders from your higher unit and ensure they include common graphics, a map, a timeline, etc. If need be, task your RTO to copy a physical graphic overlay and get digital overlays while you are otherwise engaged in receiving the mission.
Rapidly disseminate the critical information to your team by issuing a warning order (WARNORD). You determine what level is appropriate for this dissemination (e.g. squad leader and above, team leader and above, etc.). I suggest you find the right balance between avoiding micromanagement while also guarding against the telephone game.
A lot of people visualize squad leaders going off and briefing the WARNORD while the PL sits in solitude making a tentative plan. The TLPs are more fluid than that – your NCOs, your RTO, your FO, and others, all have a vital role in making the plan. You can split this up by responsibilities or do it all as a collaborative effort. However you decide to plan, it should maximize your talent pool and build shared understanding.
Starting necessary movement should be an ongoing event. The misnomer is that your unit starts preparing after they receive the WARNORD. Great units are already able to sense a few possibilities and conduct rehearsals, PCCs, PCIs, etc. before the WARNORD. The WARNORD should FOCUS future movement, not initiate it.
It’s a team effort. While the platoon leader focuses on visualizing the objective via map recon and other feasible forms of reconnaissance; squad leaders plan routes, actions on, and other parts of the operation; the weapons squad leader develops a plan for suppressing suspected enemy positions, the support by fire, and more; the FO plans fire missions; and the list continues.
As everyone comes together, with their piece, you can complete the plan. There is no one way to do this, but the foundation of the TLPs will keep you on track. Now you are ready to put it all together.
I recommend, at the platoon-level, issuing the complete order to the entire platoon or as much of it as you can muster. This doesn’t mean you have to brief the whole thing. Splitting it up can improve buy-in, serve as a key-leader confirmation brief, and better captivate the attention of the platoon. Your Platoon Sergeant can brief the sustainment and MEDEVAC plan, your RTO the plan for command and signal/mission command, your FO the fires plan, and more. I would not recommend splitting up paragraph 3 (execution). You own that and should brief it as one succinct narrative. Use confirmation briefs, backbriefs, and rehearsals to allow your subordinate leaders to brief their parts.
Now you’re done, right? Wrong. Supervising and assessing is an active and involved process. Soldiers won’t always do what you expect, but they will do what you inspect. Watch and conduct rehearsals. Conduct backbriefs and confirmation briefs. Walk around with your PSG and observe SQD rehearsals and PCCs, and then conduct PCIs.

Shared Visualization

The common operational picture that emerges is more than a set of products; it’s a shared visualization of time and space across the entire platoon.

A well-developed COP ensures everyone in the company, from the commander to the newest private, understands the plan. When the time comes to execute, it allows a unit to adjust rapidly as a single organism, rather than sluggishly as separate entities. One of my last field problems put the idea of a common operational picture to the test.

The enemy was holed up in a town, surrounded by concertina wire, and in a defense oriented toward the east. Our company commander tasked my platoon as the breach element for the company’s attack. Upon our arrival, we observed the enemy lacked wiring and were oriented south. In an instant my platoon’s mission changed. We were now the support by fire element. Despite this sudden and drastic adjustment, the leaders in my platoon – as well as our adjacent platoons – possessed a common operational picture. We simply swapped our missions mid-stride. We caught the enemy off-guard with our rapid adjustment, and destroyed over two mechanized enemy platoons.

The House

The triumph of the planning process in spite of failed plans is a challenging paradox to grasp. It’s like building a house.

309th and 305th MI Battalion Soldiers work together to erect a tent at Fort Huachuca, AZ. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Brandon Best.

Unexpected variables like weather and zoning requirements will inevitably change the blueprints. But, a strong foundation will ensure the finished house – regardless of the changes – stands. Doctrinal guidelines are more like the foundation of a house than support beams. They are guidelines and a base upon which to build. What and how you build is only limited by situation, enemy, and your ability to innovate. For the new platoon leaders reading this, don’t lose sleep. If you’ve genuinely attempted to meet these guidelines, you’re probably on the right path.

The experience and technical expertise of your non-commissioned officers will bridge the final gap between the planning process and execution. When you adhere to the process, you empower your team to buff out the plan’s imperfections and get the job done.