Command Posts

Guided Discovery.

Artist: GP Photography

Suggested Reading

• ATP 6-0.5 Command Post Organization & Operations

  • Pages 1-1 through 1-13 based on printed document (PDF pages 9-21)

  • Overview, definitions and general information on command posts

• Link to ATP 6-0.5 on the US Army Publishing Directorate

• This week’s Study: Positive Control

• All excerpts below are from MCTP 6-10A

Guided Discovery

Our offices (corporate or home), project areas, team rooms, cars (!?!) and virtual shared spaces should not be treated only as work sites.

These are our real command posts in life. They are where we should have structures and systems that facilitate the accomplishments of our missions. Frequently, they do not.

We generally do not give a lot of deep thought to the topic of our workspaces because for most, there isn’t a lot of control (the company manages it), they don’t frequently change, or there isn’t a compelling reason to adjust them (unless something like COVID triggers upgrades to the home office).

The military gives a lot of though to the topic of command posts because it is necessary. There is complete control, locations and requirements change frequently, and there are always reasons to tweak and improve the operations of command posts.

1-3. CP functions directly relate to assisting commanders in understanding, visualizing, describing, directing, leading, and assessing operations. Different types of CPs, such as the main CP or the tactical CP, have specific functions by design. Functions common to all CPs include —

• Conducting knowledge management and information management.

• Building and maintaining situational understanding.

• Controlling operations.

• Assessing operations.

• Coordinating with internal and external organizations.

• Performing CP administration.

A good command post is a boon to awareness and control.

Do the command posts in your life aid in your awareness and control?

Whether you are a CEO and your command post is a headquarters building or you work from home and your command post is the second or third bedroom, getting what you need from your command post is imperative to success.

What do you need from your command post?
What's the difference between building a command post and building a bunker?
What backup systems do you have when your personal command post is disrupted?

The form and function of a command post is a choice. How a command post contributes to or detracts from the US Army’s six common command post functions are dependent on design decisions.

In the corporate world, office and facility teams manage the design of command posts, generally with an eye toward collaboration and employee satisfaction (snacks). The design skews towards form; function is viewed from the lens of improving individual worker output (for example, hoteling and individual workspace are prioritized over more classic design where teams permanently sit together).

In the military, function reigns supreme, and viewed from an organizational lens; form is defined by very different factors (primarily survivability).

The happy medium between these two is what we require, designed with the rigor of the military’s approach and imbued with the thoughtfulness of 2025 sensitivities.

The US Army provides initial instructions for:

1. Function - what a command post needs to do

2. Form

   1. The relationship between different command posts and why they should or shouldn’t exist

   2. Critical design factors for command posts

3. Integration - how command posts should liaise and coordinate with other entities

Use each as a starting point for consideration to determine whether you are getting what you need from your command posts.

FUNCTION

The existence of the Hearth display as a commercial product (a $700 frame for your family to have another shared calendar to ignore) underscores the human desire to have command posts that adequately accomplish the US Army’s first three common command post functions: Knowledge Management, Building and Maintaining Situational Awareness, and Controlling Operations.