Even though his success was not enduring, General Petraeus’ actions in Mosul exemplified describing his intent to subordinate commanders which resulted in unique success during the transition from warfighting to nation building. Just as painting a picture often starts with an image in the artist mind, General Petraeus’ vision originated as an image that only he could see. It takes time for an artist to create a work of art. The artist must chose his canvas, brushes, colors, and choose the technique. The end result of the artist’s work is a masterpiece that inspires all who see it. General Petraeus’ made similar choices when painting for his vision of Mosul for his subordinate commanders. The difference being, his picture was painted using words, influence, and trust. This could also be considered a form of art. When done correctly, the describe portion of mission command is just that, but involves inspiring others to understand …show more content…
This encompasses objectives in time and space, resources, purpose, and action. These provide the framework for: Decisive Operations, Shaping Operations, and Sustaining Operations (ADRP 5-0, 2012).
Rapidly Changing Visualization
The extremely unstable conditions, coupled with the sudden change from combat operations to sustainment operations, resulted in a rapidly changing and dynamic operational environment. It was imperative that the 101st be seen as an army of liberation, not occupation. General Petraeus established 3 principles that formed the basis of his vision. First, Iraqis had to have a stake in the success of the new Iraq. Second, progress had to be shown. And third, operations shouldn’t create more bad guys than they remove (Lundberg,