John Wilmot
Principles of Maneuver Warfare
I wrote this paper to inspire discussion among Fire Officers (and Firefighters) about how we conduct the business of Fire Fighting. All professions have their own method of examining new ideas. One method the military uses is the discussion paper. In it, ideas can be offered and weighed by interested parties. It is also a mechanism for keeping professionals abreast of new concepts. My hope is that you will find something in these pages that you agree, or disagree, with strongly enough to talk about with other Fire Officers. If that happens then this paper has served its purpose.
I hold a healthy dissatisfaction with the way things are. It is not my intention to simply whine and complain about what is wrong. I want to inspire improvement with this document. This is a positive step toward a better Fire Department. I believe we can be better Firefighters than we are now. Individually we each must constantly improve upon our skills, but it is as a team that we need the most improvement. Our ability to come together as a cohesive unit has not yet been fully realized. Our problem is teamwork, or more specifically, our lack of teamwork. We were hired because we are team-oriented people. Many of us are very good leaders and all of us take pride in our abilities. This combination should lead naturally to a highly efficient team with satisfied, motivated members. What is missing that keeps us from this state? The important missing ingredient is a method of achieving teamwork. We need a way to unify our efforts. It must not only be a way to set our goals but also a method that helps each of us understand and embrace those goals. The principles of Maneuver Warfare will give us that method. Instead of each of us working on our own assigned task we will be able to clearly identify our common objective and work together to achieve it.
Back to TopThe Effect of the Incident Command System on the Vaughan Fire Department
Several years ago when the Incident Command System (ICS) was introduced in the Vaughan Fire Department it was met with mixed reactions. Some saw it as unnecessary meddling in the way we fought fires. They claimed it complicated what was essentially a very straightforward process. Others saw it as a great tool that could bring a better sense of order to the fireground. These people embraced it and worked on it until it became second nature. Through their efforts, and the support of the senior officers, the ICS took hold. It was accepted as a better way to do things even by the original naysayers. The ICS allows us to impose order onto chaos.
Using the ICS we could defeat the tired argument that every fire is different so you cannot plan them in advance. Each fire does have unique characteristics but the ICS identifies the elements that are common to all fires and imposes an ordered procedure to deal with them. Rather than trying to predict or prepare for any possible circumstance, the ICS remains a broad guideline on how to organize Firefighters and resources into a flexible framework. This flexibility allows the commander to tailor each attack to suit the particular needs of the situation. The framework eases the burden of command by sectoring personnel and resources into manageable groups. Communications are also improved by clearly structuring the chain of command and detailing to whom each Firefighter and Fire Officer shall report.
The effect of adopting the ICS cannot be measured by the number of fires extinguished, or even the time it took to extinguish those fires. There are too many factors that go into those results to determine what effect the ICS had. My own observations are that we do not appear to be putting out routine fires any better or faster than before we adopted the ICS. We were capable Firefighters without the ICS we just needed a better way to organize our attacks. At first, the ICS actually hindered some Fire Officers by distracting them. Years later we are more comfortable with the system, but it is hard to say if we have become any more effective.
What can be seen as a result of the ICS is a greater awareness of what is going on around us at a fire. Firefighters no longer feel the need to do everything themselves because they now know someone else has been assigned to do that other task. Fire Officers now think beyond their own task and crew. They consider where other crews are deployed or will be deployed. They understand where their crew fits into the overall picture. If these things could be measured quantitatively they would show a dramatic improvement. We are more efficient even if we are not more effective. There is less duplication and wasted effort. Safety and control has improved as well. We now have a framework to base post incident reviews upon. We can communicate more efficiently by using ICS jargon such as "all clear" and "level one staging".
The greatest benefit of the ICS has been its efficiency. Fires are now fought by employing fire crews instead of Firefighters. Co-ordination among fire crews has improved and safety levels are better. The ICS makes teamwork possible. We are a better Fire Department because of the ICS.
Back to TopThe Limitations of the Incident Command System"
The ICS concentrates more on Firefighters than on fires. It identifies and defines strategic, tactical and task responsibilities, but it does not lay out how to decide upon what to do. The ICS identifies who will make tactical decisions, but it gives no guidelines on how to make them. That process is left up to the officer on the fireground. The officer is expected to act based on personal experience and judgment. For some it is easy, while others have great difficulty. Consequently, how a fire is fought depends on which officers are present. If they use the ICS, the fire operations will be highly efficient, but it will not necessarily be highly effective. Although it is difficult to be effective without being efficient, simply being efficient will not make you effective.
Efficiency is a measure of how well we do something. It is a measure of how much effort is wasted and how quickly tasks are completed. Effectiveness can be measured only by the end result. A hockey team can play a terrible game and still win. Similarly, they could play a great game and still lose. Winning or losing is an expression of effectiveness. Playing a good game is efficiency.
When it comes to fighting a fire the only thing that counts in the minds of the public we protect is effectiveness. It does no good to tell someone we burned their house down, but we burned it down efficiently. To them all we did was lose.
Like a hockey team, the only way for us to be effective on a regular basis is to also be efficient. That is why we need the ICS. It gives us our efficiency. When we fight a garbage can fire it is like playing the worst team in the league. We do not need to be very efficient to be effective. But what team practices to beat the worst team? When we train we must always look to beat the best team in the league. That may be a house fire with children trapped, a high-rise fire that is into the stairwell or a factory fire in a chemical plant. Whatever the situation is, our aim must be effectiveness even at the expense of some efficiency. When lives are on the line it is more important to win than to play a good game.
Back to TopBackground to Maneuver Warfare
In 1989 U.S. Marine Corps Commandant General A. M. Gray distributed a document entitled "Warfighting" (ISBN 0-385-47834-8) to every officer in the Corps. In it he outlined the USMC doctrine on how they fight and how they prepare to fight. He insightfully described war as ranging from intense clashes between large military forces to covert hostilities that barely reach the threshold of violence. How easily could we use the same description for a fire emergency? We could say "anything from an inferno to the smell of smoke."
Because Marines are a highly mobile force, specializing in amphibious assault, they base all of their strategy on the tenet of being outnumbered and outgunned. It is imperative that they use their force to its greatest effect. They cannot afford a war of attrition where whoever brings the most guys wins.
General Gray outlined a concept called Maneuver Warfare that has its origins in the German Blitzkrieg tactics. He stressed the importance of maneuvering in time and space. It is not only important to be in the right place, but also to be there at the right time. How many fires could you stop with only an extinguisher if you could be in the right place at the right time? Maneuver Warfare is the Marines' method of achieving that kind of advantage. It teaches commanders to recognize vulnerabilities and to act quickly to exploit them. The aim is to shatter the enemy's cohesion not to destroy him physically through incremental attrition. The enemy is reduced to pockets of resistance that can be easily dealt with.
Inherent in Maneuver Warfare is the need for speed of action. A force must be capable of exploiting momentary opportunities as they arise. To do this personnel must be able to thrive on the chaos created by rapidly changing events. A commander who waits for a perfect set of circumstances loses the opportunity to act at a decisive moment.
Back to TopThe Principles of Maneuver Warfare
The principles of Maneuver Warfare are designed to concentrate on effectiveness. The emphasis is placed on achieving the aim not on the method of achieving the aim. The final outcome takes precedence over the steps taken to realize the outcome. The superior commander tells his subordinate what to achieve but lets the subordinate decide how to do it. Leaders are encouraged to disobey their orders if that helps them to get the desired result. The only thing that is not open to change is the commander's intent. This gives the officer on the ground the flexibility to be creative. The person with the best view of the situation is allowed to decide how to deal with it. There is no requirement to get permission to carry out an action. The local commander assesses the situation, decides on a plan and executes it.
This system requires that leaders be competent in their jobs. The commander must have confidence in the junior leader's ability to make sound decisions. The junior leader must be bold and not fear reprimand from the commander if a decision goes badly. Failure is not accepted but indecision is worse. General George S. Patton Jr. said, "a good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week." To be a leader one must lead, not wait for the circumstances to be perfect and then make the obvious decision.
Maneuver in Time as well as Space
The common perception of maneuver is a spatial one. We think of moving trucks or Firefighters on the fireground. In the Maneuver Warfare system we also maneuver in time. The aim is to generate a faster operational tempo than the enemy does. To concentrate forces in a decisive place at a decisive time, Marines must be able to do everything faster than their enemy can. This requires rapid planning, good communication skills and a thorough knowledge of standard operating procedures.
Being in the right place at the right time goes beyond simply getting trucks to the fire scene quickly. It also requires us to deploy and re-deploy fire crews ahead of the fire and anticipate its progress. Each commander must be attuned to the fire conditions and seize any opportunity to exploit them without hesitation. Waiting for instructions from a higher command defeats the value of an officer's initiative.
Warriors speak of "the fog of war" that adds chaos to a battlefield. Rather than trying to constantly reduce this chaos, Maneuver Warfare teaches soldiers to operate and even thrive on the chaos. By definition a fire emergency is chaos. It is the cessation of normal conditions and the introduction of unforeseen factors. The role of Firefighters is to reestablish order in the situation. To do this, we must understand, accept and use the chaos to our advantage.
Concentrate Strength Against Critical Enemy Vulnerabilities
Every enemy has both strong and weak points. In Maneuver Warfare these are called surfaces and gaps. An area where an enemy is strong is called a surface because it has the potential to stop your advance or turn it aside. A surface can be penetrated but it takes a great deal of force. There are usually several surfaces but between them are weaker areas, or gaps. These are points where less force can achieve greater results. Whenever possible, gaps are exploited. Gaps may be physical, such as empty spaces between two enemy units, or for us a space between exposures, or they may be temporal, such as when the enemy is low on ammunition or just before a fire flashes over.
An appreciation of surfaces and gaps requires a thorough understanding of fire behavior. By knowing what the fire can, and cannot, do an officer can determine where it will resist or succumb to firefighting activities. Experience is extremely important in learning to assess surfaces and gaps.
Carl Von Clausewitz, a famous nineteenth century military strategist, described what he called "friction" as those elements in war that cause a slowing down or resistance in the speed of operations. Simply put, friction is when a Firefighter has to stop to put his gloves on or an officer misses hearing a radio call or a coupling gets stuck. We have all experienced it in some form; it's the bad breaks that just happen. There is no way to predict what form friction will take but we can be sure it will be present in almost all operations. Recognizing that friction exists, Maneuver Warfare tries to overcome it at all levels by reducing the need for subordinate commanders to wait for detailed directions from their superiors
In order to achieve the tempo necessary, without sacrificing safety, every Firefighter on the fireground must understand what is required and be ready to pick up the slack from other Firefighters. No one person's actions should be able to delay the crew. If one Firefighter has difficulty completing a task, others should either assist automatically or adapt their own tasks to compensate until that Firefighter is able to continue. Everyone works to achieve the overall intent. If a task is left undone it is the responsibility of the nearest Firefighter to decide if the task is required to fulfill the commander intent and then to carry it out.
Back to TopThe hands on result of applying the Principles of Maneuver Warfare is a set of tools or practices that lead to the Maneuver Warfare system. These tools are the heart of Maneuver Warfare. They are what allow decentralized initiative to occur. They encourage leaders to be creative but they also provide unity and focus to the various efforts. We seek unity, not through imposed control, but through harmonious initiative and lateral coordination.
An assignment always has two parts to it: the task to be completed and the reason for doing it. Of the two, the reason, or intent, is predominant. The intent describes the desired result of the action. As the situation changes, specific tasks can become obsolete. The intent is more permanent and continues to guide our actions. Understanding our commander's intent allows us to exercise initiative in harmony with the commander's desires.
Because our focus should always be on the fire, the commander's intent is expressed in terms of fire results. The intent should answer the question: What do I want to do to the fire? It is not satisfactory for the intent to be "to extinguish the fire" as this is always our ultimate intent. The intent should convey the commander's vision. It gives the Firefighters a mental picture of how success will be achieved. It is not a detailed set of instructions. Rather, it describes the result but leaves the method of achieving the result open. It is up to the Company Officer or Firefighter to determine the best way to achieve the commander's intent.
For example, a Fire Ground Commander might express his intent as "I want to enter through the front door and push the fire out of the kitchen through the sliding door at the back." Upon hearing this Firefighters and Company Officers immediately understand what is going to happen. From that they can begin to foresee the individual tasks that are needed. All crews then direct their efforts to support the Commander's intent.
Most Fire Officers already use this system in their own mind. But many fail to express their intent; they only assign tasks that lead to their final goal. This restricts the members of their team to one specific job at a time. It is up to Firefighters to try to guess what is going on. This also excludes all of the knowledge and experience of other Fire Officers and Firefighters from the fire attack. They become simply tools of the commander and are refused the freedom to use their initiative.
By laying out the commander's intent everyone on the fireground is brought into the fire fight. Each Firefighter can examine his own task and determine if it supports the commander's intent. Likewise, Firefighters can take the initiative to perform tasks that have not been assigned but are necessary to fulfill the goal.
Our best chance of victory relies on identifying the actions most critical to success. This becomes our focus of effort and all other efforts must support it. In fact, we have decided: this is how we will achieve success; everything else is secondary.
The decision of where and when to focus our efforts cannot be taken lightly. It is derived from an overall assessment of the surfaces and gaps. We must direct it at that area which holds the best opportunity of success. As fireground priorities change, so too will the focus of effort. We might start with a focus of effort such as extending a primary search, supported by ventilation and forcible entry, but later change to making a trench cut in a roof to cut the fire off, supported by master streams and fireground lighting. By knowing where the focus of effort lies, company officers can better manage their resources. When faced with a choice of what area to illuminate first the Officer or Firefighter assigned to lighting will already know what the priority is.
Mission tactics are similar to Sectoring. An Officer or Firefighter is assigned the mission without specifying how the mission must be accomplished. The manner of accomplishing the mission is left to the subordinate. This allows the freedom - and establishes the duty - to take whatever steps are necessary, based on the situation. The method of execution is outlined by the commander only to the degree that is essential for coordination.
People can develop the ability to communicate implicitly. This communication is based on shared experience and trust. It is a faster, more effective way to communicate than through the use of detailed, explicit instructions. Implicit communication is communicating through mutual understanding, using a minimum of key, well-understood phrases or even anticipating each other's thoughts.
To improve implicit communication several practices need to take place. Familiarity and trust must be built through the use of long-term working relationships. Key people should speak directly to one another rather than using communication devices or messengers. Oral communication is important because how we talk communicates a lot about our meaning through inflection and tone of voice. Face to face communication allows gestures and bearing to enhance our message. All of these practices improve our communication and reduce the amount of time required to pass information. Eventually one person will know what the other expects without anything more than a look.
Back to TopManeuver Warfare in Fire Fighting
Adapting Maneuver Warfare to the Fire Service
In the Fire Service, we are already familiar with many of the concepts underlying Maneuver Warfare. The principle of concentrating force at a specific point as quickly as possible has long been a tenet of Firefighting. We are also experienced at sectoring our forces to meet the needs of a particular situation. Adapting Maneuver Warfare to the Fire Service is not difficult. The emphasis placed upon keeping the enemy off balance does not apply to a non-thinking fire but we still need to "read" a fire to predict what it will do and to identify its vulnerabilities.
The Maneuver Warfare principles do not replace the ICS. They compliment and enhance the ICS. The ICS still provides the overall structure under which we fight fires. What the Maneuver Warfare principles do is provide a system of identifying our goals and expressing those goals in a way that encourages everyone to use their initiative. Unlike the ICS, the Maneuver Warfare system does not have to be used by everyone. Any officer at any level can follow the principles and use the tools of Maneuver Warfare. As long as the Firefighters working under that officer understand what is expected of them a small group using the principles of Maneuver Warfare can operate effectively under a large group that does not. Certainly it would be best if everyone followed these principles, but simply because your superior does not use them does not exclude you from employing them. The Maneuver Warfare principles do not conflict with the ICS.
Back to TopFocusing on the Use of Maneuver Warfare Principles and Tools
Just as in the early stages of implementing the ICS, Fire Officers need to concentrate on the principles, and use the tools, to make Maneuver Warfare work in the Fire Service. An atmosphere of respect will develop when Firefighters find they are being asked to use their own judgment and initiative. This is a more natural way to operate. Action oriented people like Firefighters find it difficult to stand around waiting for instructions. If Firefighters acts on their own, without direction, there are two ways it can be interpreted. If the Firefighter does something the commander would have assigned anyway, we say the Firefighters showed good initiative. If however, the Firefighter does something the commander did not intend, then the Firefighter is accused of freelancing. By stating the commander's intent from the outset we effectively tell Firefighters what is initiative and what is freelancing.
The key to being in the right place at the right time is our ability to maneuver. Speed in the transition from one task to another is vital to our maneuver. Once we identify where we want to be, and when we want to be there, our ability to maneuver will determine if it is possible. To improve our maneuver Firefighters must be taught to complete their tasks quickly and to always be ready to re-deploy to another task. Fire Officers and Firefighters cannot become so involved in completing their task that they lose the ability to abandon it in favor of a more important one.
Firefighters must be taught not only how to perform a task but also why it is performed. Once they understand where their task fits in they will be able to find the shortcuts that can save time without compromising safety. If we insist on doing things the same way every time we can never improve.
Concentrate Strength Against Critical Enemy Vulnerabilities
Recognizing surfaces and gaps is the most important job of a Fire Officer. Only by identifying critical enemy vulnerabilities and directing our efforts against them can we become more effective. A thorough knowledge of fire behavior and of Firefighting techniques is required. Fire Officers must constantly work to improve their skills and enhance their knowledge through training.
Upon recognizing a gap a Fire Officer must work to exploit it and communicate its existence to the higher command. Other resources can then be directed against the vulnerability. Resources are pulled from the front not pushed from the rear. Our strength is directed to where we are successful not to where we are defeated. If a fire attack fails in one area there is little point in reinforcing it. It is better to direct additional Firefighters to where our fire attack is working.
It is the job of the commander to decide what will be done. The decision of how it will be done is left to the person doing it. Too much control from above stifles initiative. Fire Officers must be given the freedom to be creative in their solutions. They cannot perform effectively if they must constantly second guess themselves or wait for approval for all of their decisions. The reason they are officers in the first place is that they have proven their ability to make sound decisions. This ability can be exploited with decentralized command.
Decentralized command is not freelancing. All parties work toward the same goal. The commander gives the intent and designates the focus of effort. From that all others align their actions. No task can be started unless it supports the commander's intent.
If coordination is required the two people involved communicate directly to one another. They can express their own needs best. The situation and their own judgment direct their actions not a third person who may not be aware of all the circumstances.
In order to take full advantage of all of the knowledge and experience on the fireground the commander's intent must be expressed. Command does not mean detailed control it means leadership. The commander sets everything in motion by giving a direction, an ideal to work toward. It is the commander's intent that controls the actions of the people on the fireground not detailed orders. The intent sets the goal without charting the course to that goal. It focuses everyone's efforts on one thing but at the same time it unleashes their creativity and initiative to find the best way to fulfill the commander's intent.
Firefighters must continually ask themselves if what they are doing supports the commander's intent. If it does not they must modify what they are doing or stop it completely. Teamwork takes discipline. Firefighters must learn to suppress their own intentions and concentrate on their commander's intent.
The focus of effort is that area which gives us our best hope for success. It is usually embodied by assigning one crew to that tactical objective. All other crews are obliged to support the focus of effort. They may be assigned to other sectors but the actions they take in those sectors must be directed at supporting the focus of effort.
If the focus of effort does not achieve the results required a new focus of effort is designated. The new focus will usually be assigned to a different crew and the actions of the crew that was the focus of effort now must support the new focus. As the situation evolves the focus of effort may move around the fireground from crew to crew. As the focus of effort moves all crews adjust their actions to support the new focus.
Firefighters that are trained and competent in their job do not require detailed instructions on how to carry about a task. It is sufficient to simply assign the task and provide any coordinating instructions to the Firefighter. For example a Fire Officer could say, "Force this door open when the other crew brings up their hoseline." It is unnecessary, and wastes time, to say, "Put the end of your pry bar in this side of the door and pull back until the bolt clears the jam. Wait until the other crew get here with their hoseline and is ready to enter. Then pull the door open, wedge it and then get out of the way so they can enter."
Training together as a crew, and also as a platoon, ensures that everyone is working from a common base of knowledge. Using the same words and phrases for a particular action reinforces the meaning of those words and aids in understanding. Jargon and short forms are acceptable provided they are commonly understood. Phrases such as "level to staging" and "the second announcement has been made" have little meaning outside the Fire Service, but are well understood by Firefighters.
Implied communication can only be developed through long term working relationships. Familiarity and trust are the basis of implied communication and they are developed through shared philosophy and shared experience. The time spent in the firehall is extremely valuable in building good working relationships.
When communicating with another Fire Officer or Firefighter, always try to speak directly to that person. Use messages or memorandum as a backup to your actual communication not as a replacement. Communicate orally whenever possible to let the person know the tone of your message. Your voice can carry information about your message and it is a more natural way for people to communicate. Being there in person shows the importance you place on your message. It also allows you to communicate with your body language. When dealing with people who know their job, how you communicate is often as important as what you communicate. Your goal should be to achieve understanding in as little time, and with as few words, as possible.
Back to TopManeuver Warfare will improve our department. It will provide us with the tools we need for teamwork. We will achieve unity, not through imposed control, but through harmonious initiative and lateral coordination. Firefighters will understand their commander's intent and be better able to see how their task will contribute to success. They will know when and how to take the initiative. The actions they take will reinforce the fireground commanders plan not impede it. Firefighters will have as much effect on how the fire is fought, as does the fireground commander.
Fire Officers will be encouraged to use their judgment to their best advantage. The people with the best view of what is happening will be the ones who decide how a situation is dealt with. The fire conditions will dictate their actions. When an opportunity presents itself the nearest Fire Officer will be able to deal with it decisively. The knowledge and experience of everyone on the fireground will be brought into the firefight.
We will be better able to adapt to changing fire conditions. We will be able to generate a faster tempo of operations than the fire and therefore be able to exploit its vulnerabilities. This will make us more effective while still maintaining the efficiency we achieved from the ICS. This is an opportunity to improve our firefighting ability not just our organizational skills.
Back to Top
- Discuss this paper with other Fire Officers. Find out how they interpret the ideas expressed and discuss how those ideas can be used in practical situations.
- Train to improve your ability to maneuver. Teach your Firefighters more than just the skills they need. Teach them what is important in their task and encourage them to find shortcuts that do not compromise safety. Be willing to accept new ways of doing things.
- Practice looking for surfaces and gaps. Use post-incident reviews, fire photos, fire stories or any other suitable description of an emergency scene. Identify where the critical vulnerabilities lie and how they could best be exploited. The technique of looking for surfaces and gaps will work for other problems as well. If you cannot resolve a problem head on examine it from the side, top, bottom or rear to locate any gaps that can be exploited.
- Allow your command to be decentralized. Tell people what to do but not how to do it. Give them a clear picture of the end result but allow them the freedom to find the best way of achieving that result. Recognize that there is usually more than one way to solve a problem. Experience should be used to guide ones actions not to dictate them.
- Practice using the tools of Maneuver Warfare. When you speak to your crew, and especially when you assign tasks, remember to express your "commanders intent". Tell them where your "focus of effort" will be. Try to develop implicit communication with them.