Compass Points - Mission Funding

Breaking the funding quagmire.

Compass Points - Mission Funding

Breaking the funding quagmire.

October 30, 2024

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The Marine Corps needs help from Congress. The Marine Corps needs Congressional oversight and funding. Is it possible, however, that the laborious, byzantine Congressional funding process could learn something from the Marines?

In his recent article in Breaking Defense, "Political Leaders Need To Stop Standing In The Way Of Defense Innovation" author John Ferrari warns that "Standing in the way [of innovation] are three roadblocks, none of which are technological, and all of which the next President and Congress should consider challenging,"

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First are the incessant battles within the legislative branch. . . Appropriators manage defense spending down to the thousands of dollars, enjoying the power given to them by being able to decide, line item by line item, what programs get quantity changes or are allowed to be bought. Unfortunately, this creates a constipated system.

. . .The second roadblock resides at the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), where the rules are written for how the Pentagon procures weapons. The rules, set up in the 1960s, often force companies to set up special pentagon- approved accounting systems.

. . . The third roadblock resides in the service secretary offices and staff. The political leadership of the services control the acquisition powers and comptroller budget powers within the bureaucracy. They could, if they wanted to, devolve those powers down to warfighting leaders . . . .

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-- John Ferrari

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“Devolve those powers down to warfighting leaders.” That sounds like mission tactics.

Perhaps Congress and its bureaucratic funding process could learn from the Marine Corps. Perhaps Congress should learn mission tactics. Mission tactics are the secret method Marines use to accomplish so much so quickly. Mission tactics cut through confusion and bring rapid decision making to even the most complex situation.

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There are two parts to any mission: the task to be accomplished and the reason or intent behind it. 10 The intent is thus a part of every mission. The task describes the action to be taken while the intent describes the purpose of the action. The task denotes what is to be done, and sometimes when and where; the intent explains why. Of the two, the intent is predominant. While a situation may change, making the task obsolete, the intent is more lasting and continues to guide our actions. Understanding the intent of our commander allows us to exercise initiative in harmony with the commander’s desires.

. . . Mission tactics serves as a contract between senior and subordinate. The senior agrees to provide subordinates with the support necessary to help them accomplish their missions but without unnecessarily prescribing their actions. The senior is obligated to provide the guidance that allows subordinates to exercise proper judgment and initiative. The subordinate is obligated to act in conformity with the intent of the senior. The subordinate agrees to act responsibly and loyally and not to exceed the proper limits of authority. Mission tactics requires subordinates to act with “topsight”—a grasp of how their actions fit into the larger situation.9 In other words, subordinates must always think above their own levels in order to contribute to the accomplishment of the higher mission.

It is obvious that we cannot allow decentralized initiative without some means of providing unity, or focus, to the various efforts. To do so would be to dissipate our strength. We seek unity not principally through imposed control, but through harmonious initiative and lateral coordination within the context provided by guidance from above

-- MCDP 1 Warfighting, pp. 4-19 - 4-20

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Compass Points salutes author John Ferrari for his article pointing a better forward for the Congressional funding process. Without a doubt, whenever tax dollars are being spent, there will be arguments. But particularly when it comes to military spending, the Congress could improve the military spending process by taking a page from the Marine's MCDP 1, Warfighing.

Instead of authorizing spending line by line and dollar by dollar, Congress could adopt mission tactics and give military branches authority to spend an amount of funding for a specific intent. It would then be the responsibility of the military branches to experiment, find solutions, and make adjustments always guided by Congressional intent. Whether on the battlefield or in budget hearings, mission tactics increase the speed of decision making. Mission tactics could be the way to literally get more bang for the buck.

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Breaking Defense - 10/29/2024

Political Leaders Need To Stop Standing In The Way Of Defense Innovation

By John Ferrari, AEI

https://breakingdefense.com/2024/10/political-leaders-need-to-stop-standing-in-the-way-of-defense-innovation/

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Marines.mil

MCDP 1 Warfighting

https://www.marines.mil/portals/1/Publications/MCDP%201%20Warfighting%20GN.pdf?ver=2019-01-31-110543-300