The Staff

The Staff's Roles

The primary product the staff produces for the commander, and for subordinate commanders, is understanding, or situational awareness. True understanding should be the basis for information provided to commanders to make decisions. Formal staff processes provide two types of information associated with understanding and decision making. All other staff activities are secondary. The first is situational awareness information, which creates an understanding of the situation as the basis for making a decision. Simply, it is understanding oneself, the mission, enemy and friendly forces, the terrain or environment, and support resources.

The second type of information, execution information, communicates a clearly understood vision of the operation and desired outcome after a decision is made. Examples of execution information are conclusions, recommendations, guidance, intent, concept statements, and orders.

While a particular commander may focus and reorganize the staff as necessary to conform to his personal decision-making techniques or to the unique demands of a specific mission, his requirements of the staff remain the same. All staff organizations and procedures are intended to develop understanding of the commander's problem--how to use the capabilities available to decisively impose his will. The scope and complexity of military operations are too great for any one staff officer or section to meet the commander's information needs in isolation. The staff officer who performs his mechanical staff functions, no matter how flawlessly, without understanding how commanders make decisions, is useless to his commander.

Every commander must make decisions concerning the allocation, commitment, and engagement of troops and resources. In turn, the commander must give his staff the authority to make routine decisions, within the constraints of the commander's intent, while conducting operations. The C 2 system (personnel, equipment, communications, facilities and procedures) is the tool by which the commander quickly distributes his decisions to his subordinate commanders.

The commander rigorously trains his staff, shaping them into a cohesive group that can work together to understand what information he deems important. Staff officers must be able to anticipate the outcome of current operations to develop concepts for follow-on missions.

They must also understand and be able to apply commonly understood doctrine in executing their missions.

STAFF POSITIONS

A SCSG Brigade staff is organized in the following manner:

• Commanding Officer - CO - Commands the unit and is responsible for all functions of the unit.

• Executive Officer, Deputy Commander - XO, Chief of Staff - Is second in command of the unit. Gives direction to the staff, acting very much like a "chief of staff". The XO is usually a Major and the second-ranking officer in the Battalion. He would assume command of the unit if the commander was unable to exercise command.

• Personal Staff Group - Personal staff members work under the commander's immediate control. They also may serve as special staff officers as they coordinate actions and issues with other staff members. When performing their duties as special staff officers, these personal staff officers may work through the XO/Chief of Staff (CofS) and under a specific coordinating staff officer for coordination and control purposes. Members of the personal staff include personnel serving as personal assistants (aides-de-camp), personnel the commander desires to supervise directly, and personnel who by law or regulation have a special relationship to the commander, like the Chaplain. Typical personal staff members include the command sergeant major (CSM), chaplain, inspector general (IG), public affairs officer (PAO), surgeon, and staff judge advocate (SJA). Members may perform some duties as personal staff officers and some as special staff officers or members of a coordinating staff section. For example, the SJA is also responsible for his staff section's operations.

• Coordinating Staff Group - Coordinating staff officers are the commander's principal staff assistants and are directly accountable to the Chief of Staff. Coordinating staff officers are responsible for one or a combination of broad fields of interest. (See Chapter 4 for specific responsibilities and duties.) They help the commander coordinate and supervise the execution of plans, operations, and activities. Collectively, through the CofS, they are accountable for the commander's entire field of responsibilities. The Coordinating Staff include:
  • Assistant Chief of Staff, Adjutant, G1, Personnel -- The G1 is the principal staff officer for all matters concerning human resources (military and civilian), which include personnel readiness, personnel services, and headquarters management.

  • Assistant Chief of Staff, G2, Intelligence -- The G2 is the principal staff officer for all matters concerning military intelligence (MI), counterintelligence, security operations, and military intelligence training, and works closely with the G3 in the planning of operations.

  • Assistant Chief of Staff, G3, Operations -- The G3 is the principal staff officer for all matters concerning training, operations and plans, and force development and modernization. He usually works very closely with the Commander, and recommends actions to him.

  • Assistant Chief of Staff, G4, Logistics -- The G4 is the principal staff officer for coordinating the logistics integration of supply, maintenance, transportation, and services for the command. The G4 is the link between the support unit and his commander plus the rest of the staff. The G4 assists the support unit commander in maintaining logistics visibility with the commander and the rest of the staff. The G4 must also maintain close and continuous coordination with the G3.

  • Assistant Chief of Staff, G5, Civil-Military Operations -- Usually a Captain if the commander desires to fill the position and his unit's mission requires it. The G5 is the principal staff officer for all matters concerning civil-military operations (the civilian impact on military operations and the impact of military operations on the civilian populace). The G5 has responsibility to enhance the relationship between military forces and civilian authorities and personnel in the area of operations to ensure the success of the mission.

• Special Staff Group -- Special staff officers help the commander and other members of the staff in their professional or technical functional areas. The specific number of special staff officers and their duties vary at each level of command. Special staff sections are organized according to functional areas, i.e. Recruitment and Retention, or Medicine, Communications, Security.