Knowledge is power

Photo By Sgt. Jesse Smith | Maj. Kenneth J. Ferguson, the operations officer for the 2nd Combat Aviation Brigade, discusses his course of action Aug. 7 at the brigade headquarters on Camp Humphreys in the Republic of Korea. A course of action is one part of the military decision making process.  

PYEONGTAEK, 41, SOUTH KOREA

08.07.2015

Story by Sgt. Jesse Smith 

2nd Combat Aviation Brigade

CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea – What is the military decision making process or MDMP? Why is it important and who should know it? The process has many steps and phases, but the overall takeaway can be extremely important to a unit’s staff.

Maj. Kenneth A. Ferguson, the 2nd Combat Aviation Brigade operations officer, took part in an MDMP from July 27-31 at the COIC on Camp Humphreys. The exercise was in preparation for an upcoming War Fighter and Peninsula-wide exercise.

“It is a method used by a brigade or higher to conduct detailed analysis of the mission in an operating environment and to come up with a plan to execute the mission,” Ferguson said.

He said if officers know the process then each time they receive a mission they will know how to break down the mission and how to develop a plan.

The operations officer plays a big role in the MDMP process and has to be aware of what is going on with each section at all times.

“The operations officer coordinates the staff sections to work together and to bring all of their expertise into one product,” Ferguson said. “He puts everything together and makes everyone understand the big picture.”

One of the most important traits junior officers need during an MDMP is knowledge of their craft he said. Like a fires officer needs to attend school at the Mission Command Training Center to learn their craft and be able to better bring their expertise to the team.

“Field grade officers need to worry about the processes, and juniors need to worry about their skills,” Ferguson said.

The situation here in Korea is much different then back in the United States. It is different being able to work with a real-world situation and a real operations plan he said. It is an advantage to the staff because there is urgency and reality.

One of the key elements the sections used and learned about during the process was the running estimates or staff estimates. They are living documents of recorded assets on hand. After calculating the assets, they are used with battle field arithmetic to decide how to solve a problem. This is one of the many tools officers can use during the process.

“We want the staff to take away knowledge of the process and an understanding of how their function fits in,” Ferguson said. “We also want them to understand the operations plan here in the ROK.”

Some of the staff officers who participated in the MDMP had just been assigned to those positions that day. They were immediately integrated into the process and used the exercise to build teamwork within their sections.

“The effects of this team-building exercise saw a tangible increase in readiness should wartime arise,” Ferguson said.

The timing of the MDMP was perfect due to the arrival of so many new staff officers and by the end of the week everyone knew each other. It may have been a tough week, but it was highly beneficial to the brigade.

• Date Taken: 08.07.2015
• Date Posted: 08.07.2015 04:31
• Story ID: 172447
• Location: PYEONGTAEK, 41, KR