• Strategy21
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• s.46
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• pp.205-238
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• 2020

The origin of mission command can be traced to the era of the Prussian military reforms led by General Gerhard von Scharnhorst after defeats in battle of Jena and Auerstadt in 1806 against Napoleon I. Mission Command is the conduct of military operations through decentralized execution based upon mission-type orders. Commanders issue mission-type orders focused on the purpose of the operation rather than details of how to perform assigned tasks. The mission command has become the command philosophy of the German military and recently many countries in the west accept it as a command philosophy. This study compare and analyze the Battle of St. Vincent and the Battle of Jutland to make sure if the army-initiated mission commands were also useful for the navy. From the late 18th century, represented by the era of Nelson, Royal navy changed from the inherited rigid command culture to guaranteeing the disciplined initiative of its subordinate commanders. In the Battle of St. Vincent in 1797, Nelson acted contrary to the commander's orders at the crucial moment, which gave Britain a decisive victory. On the contrary more than 100 years later, the command culture of the Royal navy changed into a centralized command culture. In the Battle of Jutland in 1916, Royal Navy couldn't win because the rigid command culture did not guarantee initiative of subordinate commanders and subordinate commander's passive attitude of waiting for the commander's instructions even at critical moments. Therefore, a mission command that guarantees the initiative of subordinate commanders is a useful concept even in the navy because it makes subordinate commanders to take full advantage of a sudden change in battle. Today's advanced information and communication technologies have raised questions about mission command. But even advanced technology can't completely eliminate the fundamental nature of the war-the fog of war. War is chaotic and unpredictable. In the flood of lots of informations, senior commander's judgement is not always right because he(she) is also human, he(she) can make mistakes. In the age of informatization, mission command is still effective because it involves increasing interaction and synergy between senior and subordinate commanders by ensuring their independence. Therefore ROK navy also needs to activate mission command. ROK navy must dismantle the zero-defect mentality and apply from educations as Prussian did to establish a mission command culture.