Commander's Intent is the knowledge of the Commander's concepts of what he wants done and how importantly. Actually all soldiers in the Army are given this intent now in Ops Orders from the 1980s, and I believe the Marines have adopted it too sometime in the 1990s. The value of Commander's intent for example is a young lieutenant being assigned to protect a ridgeline, but he knows that there is nothing of importance behind him and that the other platoon to his right has a more important line of defense. If in this example both platoons were attacked and it looked like the other platoon might fall, the young lieutenant could with his understanding of Commander’s Intent send some, most, or all of his troops to help the other platoon, and use his understanding of Commander’s Intent as his reason for abandoning his post. All soldiers can actually use this defense if it is right. This is a very basic example, but I hope it helps you understand, and I hope you understand that this Intent can be a lot more sophisticated. An Army Commander cannot afford to be an automaton, and in the United States Military it is to the point where Non Commissioned Officers have college educations so that we are better rounded and fully capable of critical thinking.