The Ambiguous Brief
A written order states: "All personnel will be ready to move by 0600. Vehicles will be fuelled before departure. No movement is to occur without confirmed clearance from Group." At 0545 you learn that fuelling is complete for three of five vehicles, Group clearance has not arrived, and two soldiers are at the medical centre with a minor injury. Your second-in-command argues that "ready to move" means physically loaded and waiting, so you should load now and depart the moment clearance arrives. Another NCO says the order forbids any movement, including loading, without clearance.
1. Identify the two competing interpretations of the order and state which words create the ambiguity.
Read the worked answer
Interpretation A (SiC): "Ready to move" means combat-loaded and staged at the departure point, engines off, awaiting clearance. Loading is preparation, not movement.
Interpretation B (NCO): "No movement is to occur without confirmed clearance" is absolute; any repositioning, including loading and staging, counts as movement.
Ambiguous language: "ready to move" is undefined - it could mean administratively prepared or physically staged. "Movement" is also undefined - it could mean departure from the location or any vehicular motion. The order does not distinguish preparation from execution.
Reasoning: the safest reading is the one that satisfies both constraints - do everything that is unambiguously preparation (fuelling, loading personnel and kit onto vehicles that are not moving) and nothing that is unambiguously movement (leaving the location). Where two readings conflict, act on the narrower permission and seek clarification.
2. What is your immediate course of action before 0600, and how do you resolve the ambiguity?
Read the worked answer
Actions:
- Complete fuelling of the two remaining vehicles - clearly authorised ("vehicles will be fuelled before departure").
- Load personnel and kit onto stationary vehicles - this is preparation, consistent with "ready to move", and does not constitute movement from the location.
- Do not start engines or leave the location.
- Check on the two injured soldiers; if they are fit, they travel; if not, record the shortfall and inform Group.
- Radio Group for confirmation of clearance and, in the same message, ask them to confirm whether staging/loading is permitted before clearance.
Resolution: the ambiguity is resolved by seeking clarification from the issuing authority, not by choosing an interpretation unilaterally. In the meantime, act only on the interpretation that is safe under both readings - preparation yes, movement no.