SeaKingTacco said:
The Commanding Officer is always responsible for what happens. Always.
I think I agree with your sentiment, but not the actual response. I believe the sentiment is, whoever accepted the risk is responsible for the outcome.
A CO may very well brief a Bde Comd that all he's got left to lead the attack on the hill is an OCdt, he can brief that he's mitigated the risk as best he can by pairing him up with the best SM available, the best 3x WOs are leading the platoons, etc. If the Bde Comd accepts that risk after being told, the Bde Comd is responsible for the outcome, IMO. The Chain of Command doesn't stop at the unit level.
Weighing, balancing, eliminating, mitigating, and accepting risk are why we have Commanders.
Where it all falls apart is where one accepts the risk, and when the risk unfolds and it goes sideways, the don't accept the responsibility. I've seen this happen with using under-ranked or inexperienced pers to complete tasks all the time. I've seen some Commanders recognize a mistake/problem/catastrophe as a risk that they accepted when they tasked a Cpl to do a WO's job, and I've seen some not recognize that and then try to hold the Corporal accountable. It's the latter scenario that's the problem... if an OCdt is skewered for not being able to do a Major's job, that's poor leadership, that's an example of a Commander that doesn't understand what it means to be a Commander.
One of my favourite examples of this is a current trend of poor material accountability. As a very junior person I was caught between being told to run courses and exercises without proper time for post-activity maintenance, close-out drills, inspections, etc. The SNCOs cried foul that there wasn't enough time, but the CO said he needed this stuff done and was going to accept the risk. Well, the first time they accepted the risk, nothing went astray, so they did it again, and nothing went astray, and again, and again, and again, for the five years I was in an Infantry Battalion.
And now there's a material accountability problem. Maintenance standards have fallen, mission essential kit is going missing or destroyed, it's really just a lack of the same culture we used to have when it comes to looking after our stuff. The same people who were COs are now Bde Comd's and Div Comd's, and reaping what they* sowed when they accepted the risk, but seem to be oblivious to the fact that this was a problem years in the making. Accept a risk for a long enough and it's bound to bite you back eventually.
*They. I don't actually believed they personally sowed it... it was likely the only choice they had, being given too many tasks, not enough resources (time, troops, etc.) to get it all done. But I do wonder at what level was the risk truly accepted and who is to blame if that risk wasn't properly articulated so that at least the risk was apparent and knowingly accepted.
