The military is charged with a primary responsibility of protecting their nations. A military is a system that is authorized by its larger society to use lethal force, normally including use of weapons, in guarding its country by battling actual or comprehended threats. Military may refer to the army, air force or the navy. Military decision making process (MDMP) is the most commonly used method of making decisions in the military including American military. MDMP is an ancient method of decision making that evolved from “staff studies” but only gained popularity in the early of 19th century post -Napoleonic Europe. Several modifications have been made on the method since then to make it more effective in different times and environments. MDMP is preferred by American military because it is an established and proven analytical planning process (Menter, 2009).
Rationales of MDMP can be applied in strengthening Joint Air Operations Plan (JAOP), generation of the Air Operations Directive ( AOD), and Master Air Attack Plan (MAAP) processes during Air Operations Center (AOC) planning. Additionally Decision making within the military is significance in developing a course of action, planning interventions, choosing weaponry used in combatant operations that definitely would have effect of the civilian society as well as well as helping in resource allocation within the military. MDMP being a time consuming process, time management is of great essence if the mission of the commander is to realized. Good plans can be inefficient if inadequate time is left for the subordinate to plan and rehearse. Buchanan affirms that good plans are not what wins war but but Soldiers who understood the plan and then executed it (Buchanan, 2003).
-
0
Preparing Orders
-
0
Active Writers
-
0%
Positive Feedback
-
0
Support Agents
Decision making is generally an important at individual, business and corporate levels. It is this important role played by decision making process in the organization that prompted me into going into research to find out the importance of decision making within the American military. More questions about importance of decision making within the military that I will be interested in answering in the research paper are: players in the MDMP; the reasons why American military chose to use MDMP; importance of decision making within the military; the effectiveness of MDMP in the American military; and the impact of MDMP on American national security in the future.
Research on the topic was done by reviewing of related literature. The process was done systematically to ensure that the information collected from the books and journal helped in answering the questions on the topic. I used note cards to help me write down notes on the topic of interest. Using internet resources, indexes for periodical journals and catalog for books, I searched for information relevant to my topic of choice. By using source cards, sources that provided information quoted in the paper body were recorded. Moreover, the source cards helped when I needed to find the sources again. After writing the notes, I analyzed them all and prepared an outline of the topic and settled down on sources I will use in writing my project. However, these sources may be changed as I continue reading further on the topic.
The major difficulty experienced during the research process was inadequate availability of sources. This may affect the results if the research since the conclusions drawn may fall short of very important information.
The information collected from a number of secondary sources shows that MDMP within the American military seems to be effective. America has been able to maintain its position as a super power in the 20th and early 21st century. The military is a strong determinant of a nation becoming a super power. Considering the high level of external aggression in the 20th and 21st century, such as Al-Qaeda terrorist group, it means that American military has to a great extent been effective. The effectiveness of the American military is in turn determined by MDMP. However due to rapidly changing times and environment which complicates MDMP, the ability of MDMP to ensure American national security cannot be guaranteed. More research should be done in time-constricting environment to develop appropriate modifications on the MDMP that will ensure the process remains effective.
In summary, decision making process within the military is important for planning operations and developing course of actions. In the contemporary world united states is facing the menace of terrorism and other forms of external aggression which calls for the American military to be always in anticipation, organized and prepared beforehand as this reduces time consumed during planning because proper decisions may need to be made in time constricted environment. The ever changing times and environments pose the greatest challenge to decision making process within the military. Making inference from the ability of United States to remain in the position of world’s super power, so far MDMP in the American military is effective. however it is difficult to conclude that MDMP will be effective in maintaining the American national security due to the rapidly changing environments that makes MDMP complex.