The importance of chain of command has been a prominent for as long as a form of military has been around. It helps keep order and its keeps the personnel from wandering aimlessly without aim. Here is an example that’s perfect to make this point.
General Howard's army is defending Paris, France from the Germans. Private Smith, on the front lines looks through his binoculars and sees thousands of Germans advancing. He notifies his sergeant, and then his sergeant notifies the captain and so forth until it gets to the General (usually today in a matter of seconds.) The general sends word back down through the chain of command to his subordinates to move the reserves to meet the enemy. Using the chain of command the general only has to concern himself with the battle, not all the other things that an army does. He doesn't need to worry about equipment, the soldiers status, and the small decisions, because somewhere down the chain of command is someone who will handle that for him. Using the chain of command the general only needs to tell his immediate subordinate for logistics what he wants. The word goes down and out to all those concerned and the job gets done. Information in the chain of command goes both ways.
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, which 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...