text: Chapter 8
  Thorough knowledge of military science, a strong ethical sense, and an understanding of enemy and friendly
  capabilities across domains form the basis of the judgment required of commanders. Judgment becomes more
  refined as commanders become more experienced, and good judgment becomes even more essential in
  ambiguous or uncertain operational environments. Self-awareness and experience help commanders become
  more expert about assessing situations and receiving assistance from their staffs. Self-awareness is required
  to assess one’s self and to earn the trust of those one commands. Judgment allows commanders to distinguish
  between risk acceptance essential to successful operations and potentially disastrous rashness. The
  commander’s judgment and experience help shape information requirements and staff priorities during
  operations. Subordinate commanders and staffs collaborate to provide the most relevant information in the
  most effective format for the commander to make sound decisions.
  APPLYING THE ART OF COMMAND
  8-5. Command is more art than science because it requires commanders exercise their judgment, leverage
  their experience, and use their intuition when leading their units. Commanders apply the art of command by
  providing leadership, delegating authority, allocating resources, and making decisions. Subordinates
  operating within the commander’s intent facilitate unity of effort to create and exploit relative advantages.
  Higher echelon leaders provide subordinate echelons access to information and the authority to use Army
  and joint multidomain capabilities through delegation. Leaders delegate appropriate authority to subordinates
  based on an assessment of their competence, talents, and experience.
  COMMANDER PRESENCE ON THE BATTLEFIELD
  One of the most valuable qualities of a commander is a flair for putting himself in the right
  place at the right time.
  Field Marshal Sir William Slim
  8-6. Commanders provide leadership in combat to inspire their Soldiers, especially in challenging
  situations. Command presence is the influence commanders have on those around them, through their
  physical presence, communications, demeanor, and personal example. Commanders establish command
  presence through personal interaction with subordinates, either physically or virtually through C2 systems,
  and demonstrating their character, competence, dignity, strength of conviction, and empathy prior to and
  throughout operations.
  8-7. Commanders go where they can best influence operations, assess units, and improve unity of effort.
  Where commanders place themselves on the battlefield is one of the most important decisions they can make.
  Commanding forward allows commanders to effectively assess and manage the effects of operations on their
  formations through face-to-face interactions. It allows them to gather information about actual combat
  conditions, but it must be balanced against the requirement to be where the best overall situational awareness
  can be maintained for the entire formation. As far as operational conditions allow, leadership should be
  exercised up front at critical times and places without interfering with subordinate leader prerogatives,
  becoming unreachable by other elements of the unit, or making it simpler for the enemy to target multiple
  echelons of leadership in one place.
  8-8. At the battalion level and below, commanders lead by personal example, acquire much information
  themselves, and communicate face to face with those they direct. Typically, they position themselves well
  forward to influence the main effort during different phases of an operation. However, even at these levels,
  commanders cannot provide direct leadership for their whole unit given the challenges of maintaining
  continuous communications when units are dispersed or in contested electromagnetic environments.
  8-9. At higher levels, echeloned command posts are central to effective C2. During operations, commanders
  must assess the situation up front as often as possible without being disruptive to the focus of subordinate
  commanders. They deliberately plan and organize their C2 approach to mitigate their loss of broad situational
  understanding during battlefield circulation by the development of subordinate commanders, and staff
  officers empowered to make decisions on the commander’s behalf to exploit opportunities and respond to
  changing circumstances without needing to ask permission.