Developing Practical Thinking for Battle Command

Abstract

Battle command as conceived of by the United States Army consists of leadership and decision making. This chapter deals with the thinking that contributes to the decision-making function. The chapter’s aim is to indicate how the U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences (ARI) has investigated battle command thinking and what ARI has found out about thinking that can improve an officer’s command performance. The research depicts the complexities of instrumental processes and emphasizes the importance of situational factors, individual experience, beliefs, and attitudes. In the past, instructional materials for commanders have been based on formal models of thinking; however, the research descnbed here conforms to less formal assumptions. The informal approach comes from areas referred to aseveryday thinkingandnaturalistic decision making.This area of study has started to delineate important understandings about cognitive processes in battle command. Efforts that have been taken to improve thinking for battle command are summarized here, and broad research issues are identified.