This study aimed to explore the lived experience of operational personnel in Iran’s armed forces regarding commanders’ coaching-based behaviors, and to understand how these behaviors are linked to resilience. The study’s theoretical framework was developed drawing on the literature on coaching-based command, and its methodology was designed in light of the ethical, security, and hierarchical requirements of the military environment. The study was qualitative and adopted an interpretive-constructivist paradigm. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with operational personnel and mid-level commanders, using maximum variation purposive sampling until sufficient information power was reached. In total, 24 interviews (19 with operational personnel and 5 with mid-level commanders) were conducted in operational units between Farvardin and Shahrivar 1405 (approximately March to September 2026), and data collection was stopped when the final interviews yielded no new codes or concepts. The analysis followed the six-phase procedure of Braun and Clarke’s reflexive thematic analysis, using MAXQDA software and Attride-Stirling’s thematic network. The rigor of the study was ensured through peer debriefing, member checking, independent second coding, and an audit trail. The findings yielded one global theme, “Personnel resilience under coaching-based command,” and four organizing themes: the shift from control to facilitation; psychological safety and learning from error; the boundaries of the chain of command in coaching; and resilience as a relational phenomenon. In participants’ accounts, commanders’ coaching-based behavior is contingent on operational instructions and the intensity of missions, and it gives way to a directive style in moments of direct danger.