Combatant commands and theaters form the unified structure for this organizational environment. A combatant command is one of the unified or specified commands established by the President.
Combatant commanders conduct unified operations.
To discuss the US Army in theater operations at the operational level of war, commanders must understand the theater strategic and operational environment. To do that, they must understand the fundamentals that define that strategic environment and how the application of those fundamentals affects Army operations. Chapter 2 describes the national and theater strategic environments and provides a means to assess Army operations at the operational level. Operational art and design are the linkage between execution of tactical operations and campaign plans to obtain strategic objectives in theater. These chapters provide the basis necessary for understanding Army operations at the operational level.