be.

Since his original expression of the Decision in the first step
(Chapter VI), the commander has studied the operations required to
carry it out. He therefore has gained a knowledge, which he did not
then have, of how his action is to be carried out. He may now be able
to compile a brief of these operations, applicable to all of them and
therefore informative to all subordinate commanders. He may be able to
say how, or even where and when, the effort of his force will be
exerted.

As an illustration, if his Decision is "to destroy enemy battle-line
strength", his operations might be described "by gun action at long
range during high visibility". Should the commander, solely for the
purpose of making his intent clearer to his subordinate commanders,
now decide to include the latter phrase in the re-wording of his
Decision, he may do so at this point.

It may sometimes be necessary to restate the Decision for another
reason. It will be recalled that the commander is frequently obliged
to recognize that he cannot carry out all of these operations, and
that he therefore decides to issue a directive to carry out certain
ones selected for the first stage (page 164). In such a case, he may
not now be able to use the full Decision as originally determined. In
that event he couches the Decision in terms of the partial
accomplishment inherent in the operations to be undertaken.

Standard Forms for Plans and Directives

Form. Experience has shown that military directives usually give best
results if cast in a standard form well known alike to originator and
recipient. Such a form tends to prevent the omission of relevant
features, and to minimize error and misunderstanding. However, a
commander may find that lack of opportunity to facilitate mutual
understanding by personal conference requires that one or more
subordinates receive instructions in greater detail than a standard
form seems to permit. A letter of instructions may then be
appropriate. The commander himself is the best judge as to the
application of a form to his needs of the moment, and as to the
necessity for adherence to form in whatever particular.

Useful as form is, it is important to keep in mind that it is the
servant and not the master.

The standard form in use in our naval service, long known as the Order
Form, is applicable, with certain modifications, to all written plans
and directives.

The Order Form will now be described in detail fro