Summary

All operations in the Army originate from orders from the President of the United States. The orders filter down through the ranks down to the individual foot soldier. A lot of time, effort and resources go into planning. Unfortunately, the plans often turn out to be useless. Combat is a volatile and unpredictable undertaking. What actions the enemy will take is unknown.

Colonel Kolditz believes that plans are useful; however, they don’t work in the actual application of them on the battlefield. In the 1980s, the Army adapted a planning process called Commanders Intent (CI). A CI statement appears at the top of every order. The statement contains the big-picture end goal of the operation. The CI allows some leeway in the conduct of the war by the field officers and soldiers.

At the Combat Maneuver Training Center simulations unit, the soldiers...