Essay On Task Force 58

Shortly after 11 September 2001, Brigadier General James Mattis successfully commanded a Marine unit called Task Force 58 which conducted operations throughout southern Afghanistan. The success of his command is correlated to the six principals of mission command listed in Army Doctrine Reference Publication (ADRP) 6-0. Although General Mattis used all the principals at some point during his command, he mostly built cohesive teams through mutual trust, created a shared understanding, exercised discipline initiative, and accepted prudent risk. This paper will explain how General Mattis applied these four principals during his command of Task Force 58. However, first, a summary of events leading up to the formation of Task Force 58 and its significant

This idea was presented to Vice Admiral Moore, the Navy Central Commander, who agreed; thus the formation of Task Force 58 was born. Both General Castellaw and Admiral Moore believed General Mattis would be the perfect commander for Task Force 58. General Castellaw knew General Mattis had been preparing his Marines for a deployment in response to the terrorist attacks and General Mattis was also participating in exercise Bright Star in Egypt.3 His preparation and strategic location most likely contributed to General Castellaw and Admiral Moore’s

A typical brigade headquarters contains hundreds of Soldiers. After several cuts, General Mattis established a staff of 32 Marines.7 The small staff was made possible by cutting support personnel such as the chaplain, public affairs, medical, and even the Sergeant Major. If support was needed, they would "skip echelon, meaning they would go up or down the chain of command to a full-sized unit to receive the assistance. General Mattis believed a smaller staff would have more situational awareness, could react faster, and have less bureaucracy. Since the operational demands of a small staff would be high, he believed in assembling a team of aggressive officers who were able to act with initiative, make rapid decisions, recommendations, and exercise good judgment.8 These characteristics would create shared confidence amongst each other, and when shared confidence exists amongst commanders, subordinates, and partners, mutual trust exists.9 General Mattis also selected several officers that he had worked with in the past including Operation Bright Star.10 These were officers that he trusted. General Mattis explained, “A football team would never be sent to play in the Super Bowl with an ad hoc assortment of players that have not practiced and played together. The results would be disastrous.”11 The staff officers selected for Task Force 58 would also have to adhere to General Mattis’ high operation