Operational Vision: The Joint Force Commander's Essential Quality to Achieve Success in the Future Operating Environment.

摘要

Since the dawn of the 21st century, the U.S. military has been engaged in two major wars and other military operations short of war. The lessons learned from these wars suggest that the future security environment will present challenges and complexities that the joint force will be expected to overcome. The success of the joint force will depend on the operational leadership of its joint force commander. The joint force commander will need to possess and demonstrate varying leadership qualities. However, the essential quality that will facilitate the joint force to prevail is the joint force commander's operational vision. This paper examines the future security environment, explores the theoretical concept of operational vision, and investigates the role of operational vision in the efficacy of the joint force commander. The paper draws upon the lessons learned from two operational commanders. First, the operational vision of Lieutenant General Jagjit Singh Aurora will be analyzed. He was the operational commander for the Indian Army Eastern Command in the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971. This will be followed by analysis of the operational vision of General Tommy Franks during the U.S. led war in Afghanistan from 2001-2003. The analyses will demonstrate the complexity of each operating environment and will examine the commanders' operational vision as it related to the planning and execution of their respective campaigns. The analysis will conclude by considering the linkage between operational vision and the outcomes of the campaigns, which were conducted within a complex security environment. Operational vision is the key leadership quality that will enable the joint force to overcome the challenges of the future security environment.