FT LEE, VA — Friends and peers of Staff Sergeant Scott Austin, a water purification specialist currently stationed at Fort Lee, VA, have informed Duffel Blog that he is absolutely "scared shitless" of the Army’s new Mission Command philosophy.
Mission Command, derived from the German Auftragstaktik concept, is the United States Army's newest obsession and a clear shift away from centralized control of subordinates towards decentralized execution, freeing up subordinates to act on their own initiative within the commander's intent to accomplish the mission.
Austin’s apparent discomfort with this doctrinal concept surprised his co-workers, since he has spent the last thirteen years of his eighteen-year Army career constantly complaining about micromanagement from officers and senior non-commissioned officers, expressing a desire to be left alone so he could do his job.
“Scotty was the first person to complain whenever anyone that outranked him dared to tell him what to do,” reported Master Sergeant Matt Johnson, Austin’s former battle buddy and current supervisor in the 599th CSSB S-3 section. “During OEF V [in 2005], the company commander came by while we were on gate guard and gave us some pointers on ways to effectively search vehicles entering the FOB. Scotty about lost his shit after the CO left, talking about how he was an NCO and had more time in a combat zone than the fucking captain had in the Army.”
