Related articles from this month's Gazette:
 The Attritionist Letters (#10) Marine Corps Gazette February 2011 Editorial

FROM THE ARCHIVES:

Read this October 2005 Gazette article "Voices of Commanders Past," by Maj Michael Jernigan. Share your thoughts on whether the role of the battalion commander has changed at all.
The parade has ended, the guests have gone home, and the battalion has secured. You sit at your new desk and enjoy a few quiet moments after your change of command. You've done it-you are living your dream and have become a battalion commander. You look around the unfamiliar office and out of habit open the desk drawer. Toward the back you see a silver envelope. Curious, you pull it out and open it.
Read this September 2001 Gazette article by Asad Khan titled, "Developing Tactical Commanders."
Marine Corps doctrine describes command as the authority that a commander lawfully exercises over subordinates by virtue of rank or assignment. Command includes the authority and responsibility for effectively using available resources and for planning the organizing, directing, coordinating, controlling, and employing of military forces for the accomplishment of assigned missions. Command in battle incorporates two vital skills-the ability to lead and the ability to decide. These two skills are tightly interwoven and are the central factors in creating and directing combat power to accomplish the mission and achieve the commander's desired end state.