Army Chain of Command

Army Chain of Command

  • Submitted By: jakeup12
  • Date Submitted: 11/21/2008 8:18 AM
  • Category: Business
  • Words: 461
  • Page: 2
  • Views: 5

Every soldier in the United States military has a distinct chain of command that he must know and follow. All decisions are expected to be made at the lowest level possible, but if required, can be taken all the way up the chain to the Commander in Chief. To get a job done, you must pass information up the chain where decisions are made. Once decisions are made, orders are given, and the duties are carried out by those lower in the chain. Below is a top-down summary of hierarchy as used in the military branches of the US. A chain of command has one commander in chief, who is in charge of a number of staff officers. Each staff officer is in charge of a number of subordinates, and so on down to the man who shoots the enemy. When the General says, "hold the fort," his staff come up with a plan to hold the fort, and pass out parcels of that plan (hold the north wall, hold the gates, etc.) to their men. The riflemen are commanded in small groups by a sergeant who gives them a specific order like "shoot anyone who gets near this wall." Complaints and status reports flow up the chain, orders and blame flow down the chain. Both need to be handled at the lowest level possible. "Use the chain" is often heard as the vanilla solution to any military problem, but if your shoe is untied, don't ask the sergeant what to do; he's got 5 other men to worry about. This idea can be applied to problems in real life as well. In any military organization, your chain of command will often be drawn on an org-chart, which ends up looking like Zeus' family tree or a bowl of pasta. The Army has only one chain of command. Through this chain of command, leaders issue orders and instructions and convey policies. Chain of Command inn general is used so that military personnel give orders to only those directly below them in the chain of command, and receive orders from only those directly above them. For example, a common soldier who has a problem with carrying out an order is likely to get...

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