Recently I watched “Saving Private Ryan” again, and it made me have some questions. For example, in the opening scene of soldiers rushing to the beach, most of the soldiers were almost dead before they even got out of the landing craft. If the commander was also killed, what about the remaining soldiers? Who should direct the people? How should each unit perform the tasks assigned before departure?
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Military forces plan around bus factor as a matter of cause – casualties are inevitable, so the org chart is very clearly defined. Rank plays into it as well. 2-4 soldiers form a fireteam commanded by a corporal, 3-4 fireteams a section commanded by a sergeant, 2-4 sections a platoon commanded by a lieutenant, 2-4 platoons a company commanded by a captain, and so forth until you get an army of thousands of men. Now I’m skipping over ranks and simplifying, but you get the picture. If someone in the chain of command has their ticket punched, the next most senior officer or NCO takes over their position in an acting capacity. This extends to planning. It’s important not just to know your tasks, but also your boss’ tasks, and to ensure your subordinates know yours.
Avoiding chaos is easy when you have an imperial commisar attached to your platoon. Fear of execution and the word of the emperor go a long way in keeping the unit from breaking. A guardsmen can never forget though that faith is their greatest weapon and even the lowliest guardsmen can topple a daemon if the emperor wills it.
Things are a little different in times of war, but in that particular movie, you are following a special operations unit. Army Rangers. They are more highly trained to start with than a typical unit.
An operation like Normandy had MASSIVE scales of planning. Every single person knew the plan and where they were supposed to go. If they didn’t, well……..it’s not like they are trying to stay on the beach.
In real life it’s not always cut and dry like John dies and everyone knows it and thinks “oh Steve is in charge now….Hey, Steve, what do we do?” In the chaos of something like that your training just kicks in and you do what you need to do until someone with authority tells you otherwise.
Many movies you see portraying war are following some elite force. Band of Brothers is an Airborne unit (at the time was fringe spec ops). Generation Kill is Marine Force Recon. Black Hawk Down is Rangers and Special Forces (specifically delta). When they aren’t a spec ops group, you are more than likely dealing with infantry or another forward operating type of unit where their entire job is to train to fight wars.
So, the chain of command and elements of the mission are drilled into them to the point it is instinctual.
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