US Army division operations are based on the Army tenets of initiative, agility, depth, synchronization, and versatility. Initiative sets or changes the terms of battle by action. It is the effort to force the enemy to conform to our operational tempo and purpose, while retaining our freedom of action. This requires commanders to understand the intent of their commanders two levels above-centralized planning, but decentralized execution. Agility is the ability to act faster than the enemy -a prerequisite for seizing and holding the initiative.
Agility permits the rapid concentration of combat power against the enemy's vulner-abilities.
It requires the commander to constantly read the battlefield, anticipate, make quick decisions, and act without hesitation. This may require committing forces quickly without complete information when situations are time-sensitive. Depth is the extension of operations in time, space, resources, and purpose. Commanders use these factors in thinking in depth to forecast, anticipate likely events, and expand their freedom of action. They then apply them to arrange all available resources to set the conditions in attacking the enemy simultaneously and sequentially throughout the depth of the battlefield.