or determining the character of the
detailed operations required is made in terms of the essential
elements of a favorably progressing military operation. (For these
elements, see the salient features and the factors cited in the
Fundamental Military Principle, page 41.)

II. SELECTION OF CORRECT MILITARY OBJECTIVES

Nature of Military Objectives. In the previous discussion (page 36),
the military objective has been defined as the end toward which action
is being, or is to be, directed. As such it has been noted as an
objective in mind. The tangible focus of effort, the physical
objective toward which the action is directed, has been observed to be
an objective in space. The physical objective is always an object, be
it only a geographical point, while the objective, being a mental
concept, is a situation to be created or maintained.

The term "objective" requires circumspection, not only in the manner
of its expression (see page 53), but in its use. The latter is true
because the purport of the objective under consideration will vary
with the viewpoint of the echelon concerned. For instance, the proper
visualization of an objective, as an "effect desired" (page 19), calls
for a correct answer to the question, "Who desires this effect to be
produced?" (See page 4).

A variety of viewpoints is thus a natural characteristic of the chain
of command (pages 11-13), whose functioning creates what may be called
a "chain of objectives".

Necessary exceptions aside, the commander expects to receive, from his
immediate superior, an assigned objective, which that superior thus
enjoins the commander to attain. The commander, in turn, through the
use of the natural mental processes already explained, decides on an
objective, for the general effort of his own force, to attain the
objective assigned by his immediate superior.

As a subordinate, a commander to whom an objective has been assigned
is responsible to his immediate superior for its attainment. The
commander may, however, also occupy the position of an immediate
superior to one or more commanders on the next lower echelon. In such
capacity, he may assign objectives to these immediate subordinates. By
attaining such an assigned objective, each of these subordinates thus
contributes to the success of the complete effort planned by his
immediate superior, to the extent represented by his own assigned
share of the effort.

A commander can scarcely expect to receive in