ORDER IN OPERATION TODAY, IT'S ABOUT ADAPTING ABSOLUTELY

CONTEMPORARY REQUIREMENTS

OF COMMITMENTS WITHOUT FORGETTING THE BASICS

OF THE DISCIPLINE MILITAIRE

It is true that the forms and styles of command in land combat have undergone parallel adaptations to the evolution of the art of warfare, mentalities and collective warlike or military cultures. However, in the field, when "the friction and fog of war" prevails at any tactical level, only the leader directs, decides and assumes. In this sense, command remains timeless, not subject to the vagaries and vicissitudes of tactical, technical and human developments in manoeuvres. The leader remains a trainer of men, determined or moderate depending on the situation, professional in the profession of arms.

The current and rather complex context of land engagements, as presented in the FT01 at the tactical level, therefore leads to a preference for command by objective. It is a style of command in which the leader first gives his intention to leave his subordinates sufficient room for initiative, always under control. This style is adapted to coercive actions, but it is also particularly suited to stabilization, when the devices are very broad and installed over time.

In this context, where the manoeuvre is global and increases the importance of coordination at all levels, where the lower tactical echelons are leading theIn this context, where the manoeuvre is global and increases the importance of coordination at all levels, where the lower tactical echelons carry out most of the actions in contact with the adversary, the leader's role is of major importance, not only at the top but at all levels of the hierarchical chain.

Finally, the principles of command and the qualities of the leader described in this document must never obscure the fact that discipline remains one of the virtues of the soldier. While this document emphasizes intellectual discipline that puts the spirit above the letter, the formal aspects of discipline remain enduring. Every officer invested with a command in operations thus has the duty to recall or set in situ the specific conditions for his subordinates, as well as to impose the obligations on himself.

"We could never have done what we did if the Army Chiefs of Staff had not stood like rocks in the midst of the storm, spreading clarity and composure around them, surrounding their chiefs who bore the greatest responsibility for an atmosphere that was so dangerous.who supported them, who helped them, keeping them in the most exhausting toil, during a terrible moral trial,...a lucidity of judgement, an adaptability, a skill of execution from which victory had to come.»

Marshal Joffre

Excerpt from his reception speech at the Académie Française