The Mission
I once repeatedly proposed to a battle group commander that we conduct a submarine-launched SEAL operation somewhere in the Middle East. At the time, we had deployed a SEAL platoon nearby that was capable of launching from a submarine. It killed me to see them not being utilized.
They spent their time target shooting and planning, but I wanted to get them into action.
As I saw it, they would huddle in the small steel capsule, which would slowly fill with water. Then the outer hatch would open with a faint metal bang, and they would lock out of the dark submarine. It would be night out, but the biofluorescence would give off a faint greenish hue as they swam to the surface. They would make it to the coast in rubber boats, lying low to prevent being picked up by surface radar. The surf wouldn’t be bad at this time of year. Then they would creep onshore and into the hinterland, and conduct a reconnaissance of a village suspected of harboring bad guys. It seemed like a pretty straightforward mission. Nothing too much to ask for.
“To accomplish what?” the admiral asked.
“To conduct a submarine operation in the Middle East,” I explained.
That was the wrong answer.
No specific requirement for the mission existed other than the platoon’s restlessness. The mission would be launched in the hope that someone might be able to find a use for the information the team would bring back, not because the requirement was already there. “We need local information,” I persisted. “In case a real mission comes up in the future.”
The admiral shook his head. The meeting was over.
The Take-Away
When you create a mission before you identify a problem, you’re in trouble. You’re going to have to justify your mission. And if you don’t have a real problem that can justify it, you’re going to have to make up a problem. And that gets messy fast.
A SEAL platoon should not conduct an underwater reconnaissance of an area approaching an enemy beach landing without a reason. After all, antipersonnel mines, sea snakes, and armed patrol boats are nothing to sneeze at. Should a problem be invented to justify sending in a SEAL platoon? How about if they invent an impending Marine amphibious beach assault? That would require sending in SEALs first to clear underwater obstacles to the landing craft.
So, should the Marines conduct an amphibious landing in order to give the SEALs a reason to conduct the reconnaissance? No. Marines should storm a particular beach only when there is a real need for Marines to be on that beach. If you send SEALs or Marines up against real enemies but on a make-believe mission, because someone needs an ego boost, the next morning you’re going to have a lot of angry grunts and frogs at your doorstep. If you get someone killed for no good reason, you’d better get out of town fast.
That’s simple logic. But you’d be surprised how many meetings, task forces, and projects are created by companies that haven’t defined their problems first. Projects are occasionally created so that résumés can be expanded. Teams are occasionally created so that people can be designated as team leaders.
It’s often tempting to invent a mission simply in order to have a mission. This is especially true when a team is looking for a way to join an exciting or lucrative project. Commandos are guilty of this just like everyone else. Commandos want to keep busy. Commandos want to take part in the war.
However, billion-dollar submarines and several commandos’ lives shouldn’t be risked simply because someone needs a notch in his belt. Billion-dollar submarines and commandos’ lives are risked only to accomplish objectives that are worth the possible loss of billion-dollar submarines and commandos’ lives.
It should be no different in your world.