Management of troops (forces)

Organization of a tactical level management system .
Diagram of the headquarters of the division of the US Army in the late 1980s ^[5]

Before the creation of mass armies, in past historical stages, the conduct of hostilities was limited to small sections of open terrain, in which military leaders could directly control subordinate troops. The commanders had the opportunity to personally monitor their troops and enemy troops on the battlefield and without special control bodies to give instructions to subordinate troops for further actions. All orders were communicated to the troops personally by the commander or through adjutants, orderlies and liaisons.

The emergence of mass armies required the development of a system of command and control so that the command was able to direct military operations. For this reason, at the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th centuries the tasks became more complicated and the composition of the military headquarters increased and the main (general) headquarters were finally created. The main tasks of the General Staff were to develop strategic plans, organize intelligence, plan and provide measures for mobilization and strategic deployment, and create strategic reserves.

Command of troops (forces) in the Russian Empire began to be created in the XVII-XVIII centuries. At this stage, plans for the upcoming military operations were developed in a collegial manner, surrounded by the monarch. The commander-in-chief of the troops was assigned the role of executor of the plans worked out. Such an approach significantly constrained the initiative of the commander in chief and made the army slow and passive. The headquarters service was at a rudimentary level and its main function was to organize and deploy troops ( quartermaster unit ).

Progress in the management of troops (forces), the methods of work of commanders (commanders) and headquarters for their management in the preparation and during the hostilities was carried out as the development of operational art.

In the Armed Forces of the USSR, such prominent military leaders as Brusilov A. A. , Frunze M. V. , Tukhachevsky M. N. , Triandafillov V. K. , Zhukov G. played an important role in the development of the theory and practice of military command in the interwar and war period . K. , Vasilevsky AM and others. After the Second World War, the process of development of command and control continued continuously taking into account the influence of technological progress, a change in the methods of warfare, organization and combat capabilities of troops (forces), and the means of their combat use. Significantly affected the development of command and control of troops, the development of technical controls, of which the main are automation and automated control systems ^[1] .

Command of troops (forces) must constantly support the following points ^[1] :

• constant combat and mobilization readiness of headquarters and troops (forces);
• full and effective use of combat capabilities of subordinate troops;
• fulfillment of tasks in a timely manner.

Management of troops (forces) includes such activities as:

• continuous extraction, collection, processing, study, synthesis, analysis, assessment and display of environmental data;
• making decisions;
• bringing tasks to subordinates;
• planning of military operations and other types of military activities, organization and maintenance of interaction;
• organization and conduct of events for all types of combat and rear support;
• leadership in the preparation of subordinate command and control bodies for military operations;
• organization of control and assistance to subordinate headquarters and troops;
• direct control of the actions of troops in the performance of combat missions;
• conducting moral and psychological work with personnel
• and other tasks

Command of troops (forces) is feasible only under the following conditions (on the following principles) ^[1] :

• the presence of one-man management ;
• centralization of management at all levels while maintaining the ability to take initiative subordinates;
• hardness and perseverance in the implementation of decisions;
• efficiency and flexibility in responding to changes in the tactical (operational, strategic) situation;
• personal responsibility of the commanders (commanders) for the decisions that they make
• high organization and creative approach (ability to make non-standard decisions) in the work of commanders (commanders), staffs and other bodies of military command.

The achievement of these conditions depends on the level of professional training and organizational work of the commanders (commanders) and the personnel of command and control bodies, their understanding of the methods of conducting a modern war and its nature, knowledge of combat capabilities and the basics of using various types of weapons and military equipment of their troops (forces) and the enemy ; the ability to analyze the situation and calculate its likely changes; making decisions on time; combat planning; preservation of confidentiality of information, as well as the speedy restoration of disrupted control of troops (forces) ^[1] .

In modern Russian military terminology, the totality of the command and headquarters of the formation ( military unit , formations , associations ), services and units at the headquarters is usually called the term “management” ( regiment management, brigade management, division management , etc.). The term is directly related to the concept of command and control of troops (forces) , implying that the control of a formation is engaged in the control of troops (forces) of this formation. The term “control system” is also used, which is divided into several levels in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation ^[1] :

• strategic level - the system of command and control of the armed forces as a whole;
• operational-strategic - by military districts ( fronts );
• operational - by associations ( armies );
• operational-tactical - corps ;
• tactical - by divisions , brigades and regiments .

In the Armed Forces of the USSR, a political apparatus was also included in the control of the formations, which carried out ideological work among the personnel ( party organizer , Komsomol organizer ) ^[6] .

In foreign armies, the terms “command” and “headquarters” are actually synonyms, since the heads of the armed forces and the heads of services are part of the headquarters ^{[5] [3]} .

Command and control of troops (forces) by commanders (commanders) is carried out in person and through headquarters, through their deputies, as well as chiefs of military branches and service chiefs .

The basis of the management of troops (forces) is the decision of the commander (commander), who, having entered the headquarters, starts the process of planning combat operations and organizing the preparation of troops (forces) for combat operations. In the conduct of hostilities, the headquarters constantly receives information on changes in the situation in the theater of operations from subordinate troops and information on the condition of the troops themselves, which are transmitted to the command and based on which further decisions are developed ^{[3] [1]} .

In the organizational and technical plan, the command and control of troops (forces) is represented by a control system which consists of interconnected command and control bodies, command posts and command and control devices (communications and automated command and control systems). In essence, all questions of command and control of troops (forces) in the organizational and technical plan are entirely entrusted to such a kind of troops as liaison troops , which should maintain constant communication between commanders (commanders) and headquarters with troops subordinate to them. For this reason, the headquarters of the formations at all levels are given full-time formations of the communications troops, which provide all types of communications ( VHF communications , HF communications , telephone communications , fiber optic communications , etc.) with higher and lower headquarters ^{[7] [8]} .

The regular units of the communications troops are present in the state of all types of formations in which there is a headquarters, starting from the lowest tactical level ( battalion / division ). With an increase in the level of formation, the enlargement of the formation of communications at its headquarters (or an increase in their number), which provides communication with higher headquarters and their own subordinate formations, is characteristic. For example, in the Soviet army, the enlargement of the formations of the communications troops at the headquarters looked like this ^{[9] [10]} :

• battalion headquarters - communications platoon ;
• regiment / brigade headquarters - communications company ;
• division headquarters - a separate communications battalion ;
• corps headquarters - 1-2 separate communications battalions ;
• the headquarters of the combined arms (tank) army - a separate regiment of communications ;
• the headquarters of the military district - 1-2 separate communications brigades and 1-2 separate communications regiments .

• Headquarters