Mission-type tactics

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Mission-type tactics (German: Auftragstaktik, from Auftrag and Taktik; also known as mission command in the United States and the United Kingdom) is a method of command and delegation where the military commander gives subordinate leaders a clearly-defined objective, high-level details such as a timeframe, and the forces needed to accomplish that objective. The subordinate leaders are given planning initiative and freedom of execution: they decide on the methods to achieve the objective independently. This allows a high degree of flexibility at the operational and tactical levels of command, which allows for faster decision-making on the ground and frees the higher leadership from managing the tactical details to concentrate on the strategic picture.^{[citation needed]} This may be contrasted with "Befehlstaktik" or command-type tactics.

For the success of mission-type tactics, the subordinate leaders must understand the orders' intent and be trained to act independently. The success of the doctrine rests upon the subordinates' understanding of the intent of the issuer of the orders and their willingness to achieve the goal even if their actions violate other guidance or received orders. In armies which don't, as a whole, embody mission-style tactics, taking the risk of disobeying some orders or questioning limitations in the normal course of achieving a mission is sometimes associated with elite units, which sometimes foster a particular type of innovative culture which enables and rewards this behaviour.^{[citation needed]}

Mission-type tactics were a central component of German armed forces' military tactics since the 19th century. Mission-type tactics are advocated but not always used^[1] by the chain of command in the US,^[2][3] Canadian,^[4] Dutch and British^[5] armies.

The term Auftragstaktik was coined by the tactic's opponents, who preferred Normaltaktiker. Strictly speaking, the term Auftragstaktik grammatically appears to refer to a type of tactics, rather than a method of leadership and delegation. Therefore, in the modern German Army, the Bundeswehr, the term Führen mit Auftrag ("leading by mission") is used instead. However, the older and shorter but unofficial term is more widespread.^[6]