LESSONS LEARNT

Working with Uncertainty
“The greatest challenge in the entire episode was dealing with uncertainty,” reflected LTC Enriquez, “especially given that this was the first COVID-19 case in a combat unit in the SAF. I told the battalion that the only thing more scary than the virus was fear itself.” In a similar vein, LTC “W” said that “being comfortable with uncertainty and being able to nimbly adapt as conditions changed” helped the team navigate through the multitude of unknowns during their in-theatre operations.

LTC Enriquez knew that it was important, when managing a crisis, not to lose sight of the fundamentals. COVID-19 or not, the battalion still had important training objectives to meet. “The support from CTC, HQ AMS, and AIC was critical in giving us and our troopers the confidence to resume training, being assured that our battalion was 'clean'.” LTC Enriquez also greatly appreciated that his superiors, BG Choo and COL Wong, had given his team the space to manage the situation while ensuring that the battalion had the resources for consequence management.

Mission Command: The Art of Empowerment
Faced with situations in a state of flux, both LTC Enriquez and LTC “W” had quickly given their ground commanders and team leads the flexibility to make decisions on the ground. There was no time to wait for instructions. At the same time, both commanders made sure that they issued clear mission orders. For LTC Enriquez, it was to contain the spread beyond the index case, keep the soldiers calm, and resume regular training as soon as possible. In LTC “W”'s case, it was to safely evacuate the refugees with no COVID-19 or security incidents.

With the resources offered by the Army, each OC at 2 SIR operated independently to oversee contact tracing, disseminate information from the battalion HQ, and ensure safe management of training. There was simply no time for the CO to micro-manage. “I gave the OCs space to manage their companies, but set clear limits and deliverables like hourly reports to update battalion HQ. Each company appointed a liaison officer to communicate with HQ, so that the OCs would have the bandwidth to manage their companies.”

Similarly, at Al-Udeid and Ramstein Air Base in Germany, LTC “W”'s teams had to profile the refugees, deal with ad-hoc base closures, draw up safety and security management plans for the crew and refugees, and coordinate with international officers on various logistics and operational demands. With the situation changing rapidly, he had to leave it to the team leads and give them the necessary information and space to adjust the plans as the situation required. Like LTC Enriquez, LTC “W” set clear boundaries and deliverables, including calling for ad-hoc debriefs at the end of each mission so that improvements could be made in the next run.

Trust as a Key Ingredient
The mutual trust between commanders and their men was clear and everything went smoothly. For LTC Enriquez, it was business as usual except for Support Company, as the rest of the battalion resumed normal training with necessary SMM in place. As for LTC “W”, he trusted that his crew had COVID-proofed the plane and transit areas as much as possible, and had drawn up the necessary plans for processing the refugees.

As LTC Enriquez said, “The key ingredient for our success was the trust among our team. We trusted that our commanders could operate independently and update battalion HQ when necessary, and we trusted that every soldier was complying with the established SMM. The trust of our soldiers that the battalion was doing everything possible to protect them against infection, even as we continued training, was especially important. The men were very concerned, but the moment they were informed that there were doctors deployed for swab operations and medical screening, they were much more assured.”

These investments in consequence management paid dividends for 2 SIR. LTC Enriquez was heartened and proud to see that all close contacts of PTE “A” returned the following week for Section Field Camp. As for LTC “W”'s mission, all assigned refugees were safely evacuated to Germany, there was no COVID incident, and the mission crew returned to Singapore safely.

Both LTC Enriquez and LTC “W” had successfully led their teams through uncertain and fast-moving situations. Being closest to the ground, they best understood the conditions and how best to respond as the conditions evolved. Just as they gave their teams the leeway to make decisions as the situation demanded, their higher HQ elements gave them the space to operate without micro-managing them while making sure that they were provided with the resources they needed. This approach echoed the principles of Mission Command, and enabled effective responses in both situations.

Applying Mission Command in the SAF
There will be greater complexity and uncertainty in our operating environment. That is a given. With that in mind, how can the SAF best apply the concepts of Mission Command? The following three points are worth thinking about.

First, Mission Command generally applies to direct leadership, but the SAF should also consider how it can be applied at the organisational level. Are there areas or situations where we can articulate broad policy intent and delegate decision-making to lower echelons of command? Could this cut red tape and save manpower and time?

Second, in applying Mission Command to our everyday work, commanders could consider setting up task-oriented focus groups comprising personnel of relevant appointments and expertise. These could be along the lines of the daily Operations and Intelligence meetings convened by General McChrystal. Structure can drive behaviour, and pulling together the right people can be a useful first step to developing more independence and autonomy at lower levels of command.

Third, commanders must be judicious about where and when to apply the concept of Mission Command. Centralised command and emphasis on rote drills have a place in the military when dealing with situations which are high-risk and highly volatile and which demand immediate action. But it is also in high-risk and highly volatile situations where immediate action is required that Mission Command may be useful, because centralisation could inhibit agile adaptation. It is important to recognise that not every situation demands decentralised command.

The challenges faced by the SAF during the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted how a decentralised Mission Command approach can be helpful to commanders when they have to respond effectively in a fast-changing and uncertain operating environment. It is not only in the battlefield that the SAF will have to operate in such an environment but even in our day-to-day operations, as our experience during the pandemic reminded us. As commanders, we have to appropriately infuse these concepts into our approaches to command.