ABSTRACT
A classic example of this from recent history are the orders drafted in the field by General Smith before committing British forces in the Gulf War. The orders are brief and follow exactly the sequence of the paragraph cited above: first, the General conveys to his subordinates his objective for the entire campaign and then explains in broad terms how he intends to order the forces and fight them under several general hypothetical courses of events that could unfold, depending upon the decision of the Iraqi forces. However, since local circumstance will be infinitely various, the order also conveys a general instruction to junior field commanders that when they find themselves in doubt they should always take the initiative, since this will keep them safer: to be active is to set the parameters of the engagement and to control them and, thereby, to impose one’s will upon the enemy in giving the terms of battle.6
