Training Strategies for Tactical Pattern Recognition

The U.S. Army's decentralized command structure in AirLand Battle doctrine gives individual tactical commanders great responsibility. Notwithstanding the significant roles each staff member plays, the commander himself must be sufficiently cognizant of the battlefield situation to provide his staff with initial and continuing guidance. Moreover, commanders must be able to decide quickly how to respond to ever changing, dynamic conditions on the battlefield. It is often the case that commanders have to rely on intuition when determining how to respond to a particular situation, especially when operating under time pressure or uncertainty. According to The Command Estimate (CGSC ST 100-9, 1989), the key to effective decision making is the estimate of the situation, which is accomplished and revised on a continuous basis throughout planning and execution stages.Army Research Inst for the Behavioral and Social Sciences Alexandria VA is the author of 'Training Strategies for Tactical Pattern Recognition', published 1996 under ISBN 9781423585008 and ISBN 1423585003.