The traits fostered by the German and Admiral Staff training are valor and veracity, critical judgment, objectivity and intellectual versatility, personal force, self control, and sound esteem. Although there is no General and Admiral Staff corps in the Bundeswehr, selection, special status and ethical values within this small group of officers result in a strong esprit de corps. Former students of the Fuehrungsakademie classes frequently meet in class reunions. Former and active General and Admiral Staff officers are often members of the Clausewitz Society, an association that cultivates the General Staff officer tradition. General Staff officers of major units regularly hold meetings. It is a normal practice for a division's Chief of Staff to call together the General Staff officers of the brigades for the discussion of particular problems. The responsible commanders are informed later. The Chiefs of German corps staffs and service staffs work in a similar way. These meetings ensure that the German General and Admiral Staff officers possess great unity of thought. This makes them guardians of the German leadership philosophy throughout the Federal Armed Forces.
Mission-Oriented Command and Control
The cornerstone of the German leadership philosophy in peace and war is mission-oriented command and control (Auftragstaktik). It was developed by the Prussian-German General Staff System and has long been a command method in the German Armed Forces. In the German Army Command and Control Regulation HDv 100/100, this principle is characterized as follows:
Mission-oriented command and control is the first and foremost command and control principle in the Army of relevance in war even more than in peace. It affords the subordinate commander freedom of action in the execution of his mission, the extent depending on the type of mission to be accomplished. The superior commander informs his subordinates of his intentions, designates clear objectives and provides the assets required. He gives orders concerning the details of mission execution only for the purpose of coordinating actions serving the same objective. Apart from that, he only intervenes if failure to execute the mission endangers the realization of his intentions. The subordinate commanders can thus act on their own in accordance with the superior commander's intentions; they can immediately react to developments in the situation and exploit favorable opportunities.
The principle of mission-oriented command and control grants commanders at all levels a maximum of freedom of action. In the armed forces of Germany's allies, the beginnings of mission-oriented command and control are recognizable. Many other armed forces have adopted mission-oriented command and control based on the German experience.
Function Overrides Rank
In the Bundeswehr, the position weighs heavier than the rank. In both the Air Force and the Army, lower-rank officers are frequently superiors of higher-rank officers. This phenomenon has long been the practice with General Staff officers. In German staffs, captains i.G. are often direct superiors of higher-ranking officers. This would be unthinkable in other armed forces, where function and rank must coincide. Therefore, a soldier in the American and British armed forces who is assigned to a higher position may be given an "acting rank" until he is properly installed in the higher-paid slot, or as long as he occupies the elevated position. This procedure is not applied in the Bundeswehr. Senior non-General Staff officers often must accept working for General Staff officers who are junior in rank to them.