The Allied invasion of Sicily on 10 July 1943, codenamed Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II. The Allies intentions were to remove the Italian regime from the war, secure the central Mediterranean and divert German divisions from the northwest coast of France where the Allies planned to attack in the future. I argue that when evaluating operational-level command and control against the elements of mission command during Operation HUSKY, the Allied forces lacked the necessary intent, trust, and understanding needed to integrate all operational-level joint forces effectively, especially regarding intelligence and fires. I will offer an analysis of the Allied Force operation-level joint functions during Operation HUSKY in two parts. First, I will evaluate the joint function of command and
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It was imperative that all components and services clearly understood the mission and put forth the united effort in order to be successful. Doctrine explains that C2 contains the exercise of authority and direction by a commander over assigned and attached forces to accomplish the mission. However, from the beginning of the operation, there was not an apparent unity of effort between each service (land, air, sea). This led to a failed focus on the correct center of gravity. Without clear direction and guidance from Eisenhower and Alexander, the Allied forces began to act independently. When evaluating the joint function of C2 against the three attributes of mission command from joint doctrine: commander’s understanding, intent and mutual trust, multiple issues prevailed that contributed to the shortfalls of the Operation HUSKY. Mission command takes elements of C2 and empowers action, achieves discipline intent, and seizes and exploits opportunities when they arise on the
It was imperative that all components and services clearly understood the mission and put forth the united effort in order to be successful. Doctrine explains that C2 contains the exercise of authority and direction by a commander over assigned and attached forces to accomplish the mission. However, from the beginning of the operation, there was not an apparent unity of effort between each service (land, air, sea). This led to a failed focus on the correct center of gravity. Without clear direction and guidance from Eisenhower and Alexander, the Allied forces began to act independently. When evaluating the joint function of C2 against the three attributes of mission command from joint doctrine: commander’s understanding, intent and mutual trust, multiple issues prevailed that contributed to the shortfalls of the Operation HUSKY. Mission command takes elements of C2 and empowers action, achieves discipline intent, and seizes and exploits opportunities when they arise on the