In
military organisation, unity of command is the principle that subordinate members of a structure should all be responsible to a single commander.
United States
The
military of the United States
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is th ...
considers unity of command as one of the twelve principles of joint operations:
Military problems
When the principle of unity of command is violated problems quickly develop. An example occurred in
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...
in 2006 when
Combined Forces Command-Afghanistan
Combined Joint Task Force 180 was a provisional multinational land formation, primarily made up of units from the United States Army, that fought in the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021), especially in the initial invasion phase of 2001-2002. It ...
passed control of the ground fight to the
International Security Assistance Force
The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was a multinational military mission in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. It was established by United Nations Security Council United Nations Security Council Resolution 1386, Resolution 1386 pursua ...
. This caused the operations to split between several unified commanders in charge of
U.S. Central Command
The United States Central Command (USCENTCOM or CENTCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands of the U.S. Department of Defense. It was established in 1983, taking over the previous responsibilities of the Rapid Deployment Joint Tas ...
, the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
, and the
U.S. Special Operations Command, which caused significant operational problems.
See also
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Chain of command
A command hierarchy is a group of people who carry out orders based on others' authority within the group. It can be viewed as part of a power structure, in which it is usually seen as the most vulnerable and also the most powerful part.
Milit ...
, a clear command structure
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Civilian control of the military
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Command hierarchy
A command hierarchy is a group of people who carry out orders based on others' authority within the group. It can be viewed as part of a power structure, in which it is usually seen as the most vulnerable and also the most powerful part.
Mili ...
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Division of labor
The division of labour is the separation of the tasks in any economic system or organisation so that participants may specialise (specialisation). Individuals, organizations, and nations are endowed with, or acquire specialised capabilities, and ...
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Parochialism
Parochialism is the state of mind, whereby one focuses on small sections of an issue rather than considering its wider context. More generally, it consists of being narrow in scope. In that respect, it is a synonym of "provincialism". It may, pa ...
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Span of control
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Staff (military)
A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large milita ...
References
Military organization
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