The purpose of infantry command is to enable individual riflemen to most effectively engage with and kill the enemy. Command in the context of the infantry is an enabler, pure and simple. Command must ensure that the power of infantrymen is directed at the most vulnerable parts of the enemy and that each individual element is properly trained, directed and equipped. Good command means nothing without the ability for order and strategy to be executed, just as sustained and accurate fire accompanied by effective tactical movement performed by individual infantrymen means nothing without effective command to direct and control it.

The purpose of this paper is to summarise the basic principles of command as they apply to military-simulation (mil-sim) airsoft. It assume that individuals are comfortable with the NATO orders system, the organisation of Battalions into Companies, Platoons and Sections, and the fundamental principle of Mission Command (see below for summary).

It is intendeds a primer for those without military experience but who are placed into or interested in having command positions at mil-sim events. It should be read alongside any number of text, including the Soldier’s Pocket Book (2004, Military Pocket Books Ltd).

As stated above, the role of the commander, at all levels, is to get those under their command into the right place at the right time with the right kit and to know what they are to do there; these are the most essential duties.

Breaking this down, command involves:

• Navigation
• Timings and Coordinating these timings
• Equipment and Supplies (and making sure that individuals have what is needed)
• Communicating orders
• Ensuring that orders are understood

In order to accomplish this, there are several important principles to know and to use throughout.

Mission Command

Mission Command involves commanders giving order which dictate their Intent – ie the effect which they require subordinates to accomplish – rather than the method. For example: 2 Platoon will capture hill Zulu in order to provide fire support to 1 Platoon’s assault. IC 2 Pln must therefore choose how to go about this on the basis of his experience and may adapt his approach as circumstances change. His OC does not say “capture hill Zulu using the ridge on the NW slope having crossed the river at point Bravo”. Instead, IC 2Pln has the freedom to adapt his plan and to use his initiative.

When giving orders, you must be clear what you want to happen and how each component of your command will work to achieve it. If you don’t know what you want to happen, get out of the way and let someone else through who will.

Basics

You need to think about who you are giving orders to and what the roles of the components of your command (infantrymen and fire teams as a Section Commander; Sections as a Platoon Commander etc) have and how they relate to each other in terms of space (ie where) and time (ie when).

Add this detail to your overall intent (ie what you want to happen in the end) and you have a plan.

The hardest part though, is communicating this.

Communicating the Plan

Communicating the plan is otherwise known as the orders process.

Orders must be:

• Accurate
• Brief
• Clear

Everyone must know what their role is. It is your responsibility that they do so, make sure you confirm their knowledge, using questions after the briefing.

Details and Things to Think About

• Explain your plan using a map or better, a model. Pictures make list easy for people, especially the infantry and Intelligence Corps. Whether you’re a Bn, Pln or Sn Commander, maps and models make everything clearer and easier.
• Remember always to pass on planning time to the people who will carry it out – pass on 2/3 of the time you have because making the plan is the easy but, people need time to work out how to execute their bit of it.
• Consider using the orders headings used by the British Army and NATO (ARRSE e-Nirex) to feel war-like and hard and also to make sure you do not miss anything out.

The most important part of the process is listening. Listen to your Commander’s plan and make sure you understand your role in it and how that relates to what other people are doing. If you do not understand, ask – there is no shame in it but there is in getting it wrong later.

Having given the orders, H-Hour will come and go, and your guys need to make it happen. IF your plan is good, you do not need to do anything know as you will have attacked the enemy’s vulnerabilities with pace and surprise and it will be over before you know it. Back in the real world though, you’ll need to tweak it. This is where a few top tips come in to accelerate what everyone else learns from experience:

• Make sure people know the plan and what they’re doing
• Trust your subordinates (ie do not interfere)
• Choose good commanders and don’t be afraid to change them if needed
• Reinforce Success
• Never reinforce failure
• Reconnaissance is vital (but you did that already right?)
• Once you stop, send out security and set sentries (otherwise you will be killed)
• The basics matter

Remember what was said at the start, Command is all about getting the infantrymen to kill. Section (Sn) Commanders help you do that more than anyone. Section Commanders need to:

• Know what the job of their Section is in the plan
• Know where they are in relation to other units
• Make sure the whole section knows thisx

Section Commanders and their Section 2ICs have more basic jobs too, they must:

• Make sure that the section is well fed and hydrated
• Make sure ammo levels are maximised
• Make sure communications work
• Make sure that the section is cammed up properly

If you remember that every time you stop, the section checks ammo, comms, cammo, water and food, you’ll not go far wrong.

One thing that has not been mentioned in any detail here is communications. It is no exaggeration to say that without comms, Command does not and will never work. Comms does not need to be complex. Radios are a luxury. Get people together; have a loud and clear voice and more than anything, keep talking. As a Commander you need to know if your plan is working and whether you can move your drinks cabinet 4 feet closer to Berlin. If not, you need to know this, to change things pronto and then to tell people to change it.

Final thoughts

The job of the Commander is to ENABLE, never forget this. The best way to go about this is to make sure your plan is achievable and realistic and then communicate and make sure it is understood. Pln and Sn Commanders need then to sort their people out, to get basic admin sorted out because that’s where it matters, right there at ground level.

The author is a junior NCO in the Territorial Army with over 4 year’s experience of mil-sim airsoft events. He has a Bsc, an MA and is a member of the Royal United Services Institute. His day job is in crisis management; training personnel in strategic leadership, developing plans and procedures to manage emergencies and writing, delivering and evaluating exercises to make sure it all works. He has been involved in the response to CBRN, flooding, severe weather and terrorist related incidents across London and the UK. Overall, he can be assumed to know his shit but don’t let him know you believe that.