CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea –
What is the military decision making process
or MDMP? Why is it important and who should know it? The process has many steps
and phases, but the overall takeaway can be extremely important to a unit's
staff.
Maj. Kenneth A. Ferguson, the 2nd Combat Aviation Brigade operations
officer, took part in an MDMP from July 27-31 at the COIC on Camp Humphreys. The
exercise was in preparation for an upcoming War Fighter and Peninsula-wide
exercise.
"It is a method used by a brigade or higher to conduct detailed
analysis of the mission in an operating environment and to come up with a plan
to execute the mission," Ferguson said.
He said if officers know the process
then each time they receive a mission they will know how to break down the
mission and how to develop a plan.
The operations officer plays a big role in
the MDMP process and has to be aware of what is going on with each section at
all times.
"The operations officer coordinates the staff sections to work
together and to bring all of their expertise into one product," Ferguson said.
"He puts everything together and makes everyone understand the big
picture."
One of the most important traits junior officers need during an
MDMP is knowledge of their craft he said. Like a fires officer needs to attend
school at the Mission Command Training Center to learn their craft and be able
to better bring their expertise to the team. "Field grade officers need to
worry about the processes, and juniors need to worry about their skills,"
Ferguson said.
The situation here in Korea is much different then back in the
United States. It is different being able to work with a real-world situation
and a real operations plan he said. It is an advantage to the staff because
there is urgency and reality.
One of the key elements the sections used and
learned about during the process was the running estimates or staff estimates.
They are living documents of recorded assets on hand. After calculating the
assets, they are used with battle field arithmetic to decide how to solve a
problem. This is one of the many tools officers can use during the
process.
"We want the staff to take away knowledge of the process and an
understanding of how their function fits in," Ferguson said. "We also want them
to understand the operations plan here in the ROK."
Some of the staff
officers who participated in the MDMP had just been assigned to those positions
that day. They were immediately integrated into the process and used the
exercise to build teamwork within their sections.
"The effects of this
team-building exercise saw a tangible increase in readiness should wartime
arise," Ferguson said.
The timing of the MDMP was perfect due to the arrival
of so many new staff officers and by the end of the week everyone knew each
other. It may have been a tough week, but it was highly beneficial to the
brigade.