Sweforce wrote:Yiuel wrote:If their behavior bears any similarity to insects... It may be possible that most Umiak know nothing about what most Umiak are doing. That would be a rather interesting twist.
This is a common problem in military operations. If everyone knows the plan, things goes more smoothly but there is an increased risk of the enemy catching wind of the plan. With a "needs to know" approach, things can get awry if the people knowing the plan ends up dead. Soldiers that knows what needs to be done can keep going even if all their commanders are dead. I guess that some kind of mix between the approaches are most common.
The above is both true and untrue.
To put it plainly there are three tiers of military command:
Low tier: NCOs and low ranking officers (sergeants to lieutenants).
Mid tier: Mid Ranking officers (Captains to Colonels)
High tier: High Ranking officers (Generals and Admirals)
Military orders are generally given to the tiers that they apply to. Generals will know the detailed plans that the Field Marshal has come up with. Captains and Colonels will know the plans that the General has come up with and NCOs and Lieutenants will know the plans that the Captain has come up with.
There is no reason for a lieutenant to know the full disposition and decided battle plan of a regiment. However they are more than prepared to assume command of their company if the Captain becomes incapacitated or has to assume an other command in the heat of battle.
As a rule of thumb everyone knows the assigned tasks and plans of those that are two ranks higher than themselves. This both limits the possibility of a leak (since those who know anything important are already in a tight circle of commissioned officers) but also allows for the force to continue functioning in case of a decapitation.
If the Umiak are following the same principle (Likely because it is very efficient) then Kikitik-27 as an admiral knows the plans of his sector commander.