The Micromanagement Myth and Mission Command: Making the Case for Oversight of Military Operations

The mission of INSS is to conduct strategic studies for the Secretary of Defense, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the unified combatant commands in support of the academic programs at NDU and to perform outreach to other U. [...] Admiral Joseph Metcalf, who commanded the operation, purposefully kept a flow of information going up the chain to Washington in or- der to preserve his decisionmaking autonomy,49 and the Chairman, General John Vessey, later emphasized that “the SecDef and the President did not interfere” in the execution of the plans.50 Despite no micromanagement, or perhaps because of it, the rescue attempt in I. [...] The result, as was the case in Panama, was that the United States again failed to consider postwar planning and obtain a satisfactory strategic outcome.77 General Max Thurman, the combatant commander who oversaw Operation Just Cause, warned senior Pentagon leaders planning the Gulf War that Panama demonstrated the necessity of considering the aftermath of military operations. [...] Success notwithstanding, White House en- gagement irritated the Pentagon and led to more fraying of civil-military relations.103 Over the course of the 1990s, a prolonged tug of war occurred between the White House and the Pentagon over whether and how to use military force for limited political goals. [...] Only the President is able to compel Cabinet secretaries to col- laborate in a unified effort.139 Only the President can resolve contentious strategy issues among 24 The Micromanagement Myth and Mission Command his subordinates or direct the behaviors of the departments and agencies, as argued extensively elsewhere.140 Without the President engaged, the system does not and cannot produce strategy.