ADP 1: The Army

## **Preface**

ADP 1 is prepared under the direction of the Chief of Staff of the Army. It delineates the Army’s roles and core competencies by deriving them from the Constitution; Title 10, United States Code (USC); and DODD 5100.01. It establishes the fundamental principles for employing Army forces, addresses the Army’s contributions to the joint force, and highlights our interdependence with the joint force. Lastly, ADP 1 emphasizes the professional Soldier and the characteristics of the future force that will enable the Army to maintain its commitment to the Nation.

Army doctrine supports and is consistent with joint doctrine. This publication connects Army doctrine to joint doctrine as expressed in relevant joint publications, especially *JP 1, Doctrine for the Armed Forces of the United States*, and *JP 3-0, Joint Operations*.

The principal audience for ADP 1 is all members of the Profession of Arms, executive and legislative leaders, and unified action partners. Commanders, staffs, and subordinates ensure that their decisions and actions comply with applicable laws and regulations. Commanders at all levels ensure that their Soldiers operate in accordance with the law of war and the rules of engagement (see FM 27-10).

ADP 1 uses joint terms where applicable. For terms and their definitions in the text, the term is italicized and the number of the proponent publication follows the definition. Bolded words show only emphasis, not formal terms.

ADP 1 applies to the Regular Army, Army National Guard of the United States, the Army National Guard while in the service of the United States, the United States Army Reserve, and Department of the Army Civilians unless otherwise stated.

United States Army Combined Arms Center is the proponent for this publication. The preparing agency is the Combined Arms Doctrine Directorate, United States Army Combined Arms Center. Send written comments and recommendations on a DA Form 2028 (*Recommended Changes to Publications and Blank Forms*) to Commander, U.S. Army Combined Arms Center and Fort Leavenworth, ATTN: ATZL-MCD (ADP 1), 300 McPherson Avenue, Fort Leavenworth, KS 66027-2337; by e-mail to usarmy.leavenworth.mccoe.mbx.cadd-org-mailbox@mail.mil; or submit an electronic DA Form 2028.

## **Introduction**

*Landpower* is the ability—by threat, force, or occupation—to gain, sustain, and exploit control over land, resources, and people (ADP 3-0). Our Army provides the United States with a campaign-quality force able to secure, seize, and occupy terrain; sustain itself; and enable our unified action partners to interact with, secure, or control populations. When necessary, the Army conducts large-scale ground combat operations on land to achieve strategic objectives and impose our will on enemies. No other force has this capability.

Our Army exists to defend the Nation and protect our Nation’s interests. We answer the Nation’s call to serve whenever and wherever required. As the preeminent land warfighting force in the world, we are capable of managing crises and conducting large-scale ground combat as part of the joint force. Our Soldiers, leaders, and units possess the tactical and technical competence to conduct successful operations across the full range of military operations and the competition continuum. We maintain the trust of the American people who rely on the Armed Forces to protect and defend the Constitution and to guarantee their freedom, security, and interests as we have always done.

To talk about our Army is to talk about its rich and dynamic history. On 14 June 1775, the Second Continental Congress established the Continental Army, instituting the United States Army as the first Service of the Armed Forces of the United States. As one of the oldest American institutions, our Army predates the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. For almost two and a half centuries, Soldiers have built a legacy of character, competence, and commitment symbolized by the 190 campaign streamers that adorn the Army flag—each one signifying the great sacrifices of Soldiers on behalf of the Nation and the American people.

The Army today is a force that is prepared to defend the Nation and protect our national interests through prompt and sustained land combat. This includes forcible entry from the land, sea, or air; closing with and destroying a determined enemy with fires and movement; sustaining the Army and joint forces; consolidating battlefield gains to facilitate a sustainable peace; and defending our homeland. The Army organizes, trains, and equips the force to conduct offensive, defensive, and stability operations when employed abroad and defense support of civil authorities (DSCA) tasks at home. (See figure introduction-1 on page vi.)

The Army accomplishes its mission by supporting the joint force in four strategic roles: shaping operational environments, preventing conflict, prevailing in large-scale ground combat operations, and consolidating gains. The Army helps the joint force win when it achieves its operational objective in the performance of its roles across the range of military operations. The strategic roles clarify the enduring reasons for which our Army is organized, trained, and equipped. The Army provides its core competencies to the joint force, which are essential and enduring capabilities that enable unified action. These competencies define the Army’s fundamental contributions to the Nation’s defense.

## **Chapter 1: Why America Needs an Army**

> "*[Y]ou don't dictate end states from the air. You can't control territory. You can't influence people. You can't maintain lines of control after you've established them. That will take a ground force...."* - General Mark A. Welsh III, Air Force Chief of Staff
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The Nation’s need for a capable, ready Army is enduring even if it has not always been a priority. During important moments in our Nation’s history, such as the beginning of World War II and the Korean War, ill-prepared Army forces sacrificed at great cost to buy time while the Nation went through the deliberate and time-consuming process of properly organizing, equipping, and training sufficient ground forces. The first battles ended badly. U.S. Army forces in the Philippines and Korea suffered painful defeats in large part because they were not prepared for war. While Soldiers fought valiantly in both places, they were not ready for combat. Given the lessons of our own history, and that large-scale ground combat against a peer threat is no longer unthinkable, it is our moral imperative to ensure that we send no Soldiers into combat unless they are properly equipped, trained, and led.

### **ARMY RESPONSIBILITIES**

**1-1**. The primary responsibility of our Army is to conduct prompt and sustained land combat as part of the joint force. The Army must deliver ready, trained, and equipped forces to meet the demands placed upon it. Our Nation expects the Army to be lethal, agile, and adaptive. In 1899, Secretary of War Elihu Root wrote, “[T]he real object of having an army is to prepare for war.” When not engaged in direct conflict, the Army focuses its efforts on conducting operations to prepare for and deter war. Our Army achieves readiness through sound doctrine, capable organizations, realistic training and education, modernized equipment, inspired leadership, and disciplined Soldiers. Readiness is what makes our Army credible.

**1-2**. Our Army is interdependent with the other elements of the joint force and serves as the foundation upon which the joint force conducts land operations. Just as the Army requires joint capabilities to conduct operations, the joint force also requires Army capabilities to succeed across the multiple domains of air, land, maritime, space, and cyberspace. Army support to other Services provides key enabling capabilities to the joint force to include operational-level command and control, communications, intelligence, and sustainment support. Only credible and ready land forces operating as an element of the joint force provide U.S. decision makers with strategic options to shape operational environments, prevent conflict, prevail during large-scale ground combat operations, and consolidate gains to win in volatile or uncertain environments.

**1-3**. Landpower enables the Nation’s leaders to respond to security challenges in definitive and decisive ways. Landpower focuses on destroying an enemy’s armed forces, occupying its territory, and breaking its will. Landpower protects our national interests, brings order to chaos, and protects populations. Only the Army has the capability and capacity to seize, occupy, and control large land areas; provide civil security; and provide a visible and physical presence throughout a territory or country. Controlling land requires a commitment of landpower, a commitment historically met by Army forces and expressed by U.S. Navy Rear Admiral J. C. Wylie:

> *The ultimate determinant in war is a man on the scene with a gun. This man is the final power in war. He is in control. He determines who wins. There are those who would dispute this as an absolute but it is my belief that while other means may critically influence war today, after whatever devastation and destruction may be inflicted on an enemy, if the strategist is forced to strive for final and ultimate control, he must establish, or must present as an inevitable prospect, a man on the scene with a gun. This is the Soldier.*
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**1-4**. The Army’s legacy of service makes clear the critical role of the American Soldier before, during, and after conflict. War will continue to remain an intensely human endeavor. To defend our Nation’s security and prosperity in the increasingly interconnected and volatile world, the Army must remain globally engaged, provide America’s leaders with options, and defend the Nation’s vital interests on the ground. This requires a well-trained and equipped Army prepared to protect the homeland, to defeat any enemy worldwide, and to provide disaster relief or humanitarian assistance when called upon. (See figure 1-1.)

**1-5**. The Army’s essential characteristics of trust, honorable service, military expertise, stewardship, and ésprit de corps enable the Army to serve America faithfully as an established military profession. These characteristics of the Army Profession reflect our national ideals, the Army Values, the Army Ethic, and the Army’s approach to accomplishing its mission to defend the Constitution and the American people. Soldiers and Department of the Army (DA) Civilians are professionals, guided in everything they do by the Army Ethic. They are certified and bonded with other Army professionals through a shared identity and service within a culture of trust.

**1-6**. Today’s Soldier joins those men and women who previously served the Nation with courage and dedication. The campaigns and battles for which our forbearers fought set clear milestones marking the Army’s role and importance in American history. The Army’s historical legacy discussed in the appendix helps illuminate the challenges our Army faced in the past and will likely face in the future.

### **THE TOTAL ARMY**

**1-7**. The Department of Defense directs the Army to organize, train, and equip as an integrated total force. It consists of three components: the Regular Army, the Army National Guard, and the Army Reserve. Together, the three components representing the Total Army ensure that we have the capacity, capability, and endurance to do what the Nation requires. (See figure 1-2.)

##### **REGULAR ARMY**

**1-8**. The Regular Army, commonly referred to as the active duty force, consists of full-time Soldiers supported by the Army Civilian Corps. The Regular Army is under the command of the President of the United States. Service-specific matters are the responsibility of the Secretary of the Army, the Chief of Staff of the Army, and other appointed officials. The Regular Army includes units of all specialties necessary for the prompt employment of land forces. However, the Regular Army relies upon units and capabilities maintained in the Army National Guard and Army Reserve.

##### **ARMY NATIONAL GUARD**

**1-9**. The Army National Guard has a dual role based on the Constitution. Its first role is that of a state military force. Its second role is as an operational reserve for the Regular Army. Each state, the U.S. territories (Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands), and the District of Columbia have Army National Guard units Chapter 1 1-4 ADP 1 31 July 2019 totaling 54 state and territorial National Guards. Army National Guard forces remain under the command of their respective governors until mobilized for federal service. Each state or territory Army National Guard has an adjutant general—a general officer appointed by the governor—who serves as its uniformed leader. The governor can order the Army National Guard to state service since it is a state military force. The Army National Guard responds to natural disasters and other domestic emergencies many times each year. While serving their states, these Soldiers are subject to civil laws and their states’ Codes of Military Justice. A governor can use the Army National Guard of the state for law enforcement, which is something that federal military forces cannot perform except under special circumstances. A small number of Army National Guard Soldiers are on full-time active duty, a duty status called “Active Guard and Reserve.”

##### **ARMY CIVILIAN CORPS**

**1-12**. The Army has the largest civilian workforce in the Department of Defense. DA Civilians are full-time and enduring members of the profession. The Army Civilian Corps provides the complementary and reinforcing skills, expertise, and competence required to project, program, support, and sustain the uniformed side of the Army.

**1-13.** DA Civilians have assumed increased levels of responsibility and greater authority since the Army transitioned to a professional volunteer force. Over 23,000 DA Civilians have deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq in support of the uniformed Services since 2001. They hold senior leadership and mission critical positions in operating forces and key positions in the institutional force. DA Civilians also serve in Army Reserve centers. Like Soldiers and members of Congress, they take an oath solemnly swearing that they will support and defend the Constitution. Like their uniformed counterparts, DA Civilians live the Army Values and prepare for unforeseen future threats.

### **THE ARMY FUNCTIONAL STRUCTURE**

> *You may fly over a land forever; you may bomb it, atomize it, pulverize it and wipe it clean of life-but if you desire to defend it, protect it, and keep it for civilization, you must do this on the ground, the way the Roman legions did, by putting your young men in the mud.* - T.R. Fehrenbach
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**1-14**. Soldiers and DA Civilians serve in two functionally discrete entities known as operating forces and the institutional force.

#### **OPERATING FORCES**

**1-15**. Operating forces consist of units organized, trained, and equipped to deploy and fight. They make up about two-thirds of the Regular Army and three-fourths of the Army’s total force. The Secretary of Defense assigns these units to the various combatant commanders. Operating forces are modular. They consist of interchangeable units grouped under various headquarters. When a joint force commander specifies the capabilities needed, the Army provides tailored force packages to provide those capabilities. In addition to conventional forces, the Army also provides the largest element of the joint special operations forces. Army special operations forces include several special forces groups, the Ranger Regiment, civil affairs units, military information support units, and special operations aviation.

#### **THE INSTITUTIONAL FORCE**

**1-16**. The institutional force ensures the readiness of all Army forces. The institutional force consists of Army organizations whose primary mission is to generate, prepare, and sustain operating forces of the Army. Therefore, the institutional force remains under the command of the Department of the Army. The training base provides military skills and a professional education to every Soldier—as well as to members of the other Services and multinational partners. The institutional force is also the Army’s principal interface with the commercial sector. Our national industrial base provides equipment and sustainment for the Army managed by the various headquarters of the institutional force. Army installations are power projection platforms that train forces and serve as departure points. Once operating forces deploy, the institutional force provides the sustainment that Soldiers need for their missions and specified support provided by the Army to the other Services. The institutional force focuses on departmental (Title 10, USC) tasks including—

* Recruiting.
* Maintaining.
* Organizing.
* Servicing.
* Supplying.
* Training.
* Educating.
* Mobilizing.
* Demobilizing.
* Administering (including the morale and welfare of personnel).
* Developing, outfitting, and repairing military equipment.
* Equipping (including research and development).
* Constructing, maintaining, and repairing facilities.

**1-17**. The institutional force contributes to operational missions by optimizing individual and team performance and by ensuring the right Soldier is in the right place at the right time. Combined with operating forces, it develops competencies critical to future responsibilities.

## **Chapter 2: Today's Army**

> *"To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace."* - George Washington
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The Army operates in all domains, converging its capabilities to control land, which is the most complex domain of all. This is where conflicts are most often resolved and sustainable outcomes achieved. The land domain includes humanity in its entirety of cultures, religions, social and economic groups, and politics. These can all be drivers of instability and conflict in today’s operational environments. The Army enables and influences operations across the air, maritime, space, and cyberspace domains, each of which has influence on the land domain. Winning on land requires Soldiers, leaders, and units to have the skills, knowledge, and attributes to operate effectively in ambiguity and chaos. Continuous learning, adaptation, and agility are the keys to winning in lethal and uncertain environments.

### **OPERATING IN THE LAND DOMAIN**

2-1. The variations in climate, terrain, velocity and complexity of human interaction, and the diversity of populations have a far greater impact on operations in the land domain than in any other domain. The most distinguishing characteristic of the land domain is the human element. Humans temporarily transit the air, maritime, and space domains, but they ultimately live on land. Controlling terrain, infrastructure, and populations are uniquely human-oriented endeavors that require Soldiers to operate in the midst of political, economic, social, and religious tumult. The human context informs how the Army conducts operations among populations, within the military, political, and physical constraints of the environment. Winning battles and engagements alone is insufficient for achieving sustainable outcomes. Army forces consolidate gains with and among populations to ensure battlefield victories translate into long-term success.

2-2. Geographic combatant commanders implement various security cooperation activities to shape the environment in ways favorable to U.S. interests. Most activities involve working with foreign security forces on the ground. These activities build partner defense capabilities and enhance the overall security of the theater. Our assistance assures our multinational partners and improves joint force access to key regions. The degree of security cooperation communicates U.S. commitment, strength, and awareness to adversaries in those regions. If necessary, combat-ready Army units deploy to threatened areas to reinforce host-nation forces, complement joint air and maritime forces, and communicate clear U.S. intent to resist aggression. Partnership develops trust, improves interoperability, and builds shared understanding as our Soldiers positively influence host-nation forces, leaders, populations, and other government agencies. This partnership produces enduring positive effects for regional stability and effective deterrence.

2-3. Few nations can afford to field and employ a large air force or navy. The principal military forces across the globe are armies, even in regions often defined by their proximity to large bodies of water. For most nations, defense and security considerations center on land forces. The United States furthers many of its strategic interests using Soldiers who work on a daily basis directly with multinational partners to improve their ground forces. Our Soldiers make the Army the most capable land force in the world, which in turn maintains U.S. credibility and security.

### **LAND COMBAT**

2-4. Land combat consists of operations against a thinking and lethal enemy in conditions that include violence, chaos, fatigue, fear, and uncertainty. Large-scale ground combat is the most lethal and demanding environment human beings have ever devised to resolve conflict. Soldiers face enemy forces with advanced weapons and sophisticated means of communication. Enemy forces use every means available to achieve their ends to include terror, criminal activities, and information warfare. They operate in and among noncombatants for concealment and protection. To an ever-increasing degree, information and cyber activities are inseparable from land operations. Cyber activities directly affect our ability to communicate, meaning that successfully conducting land combat requires protecting friendly networks while exploiting or degrading enemy networks. Compensating for the likelihood of degraded communications and the resulting ambiguity or uncertainty requires highly skilled Soldiers in well-trained units able to exercise disciplined initiative and accept risk. The Army adapts to and compensates for uncertainty with its mission command approach, which focuses each echelon on the purpose of operations in context and not simply on the execution of specific tasks that may no longer contribute to achieving an operational goal.

2-5. Due to the size and number of its combined arms formations, the Army is the only U.S. force capable of defeating threats around the globe during sustained land combat. The Army is uniquely organized, trained, and equipped with the depth and capabilities to be a credible land force deterrent against world and regional powers. Should deterrence fail, the Army, with its unified action partners, makes victory against an enemy decisive. (See figure 2-1.)

### **OPERATIONAL ENVIRONMENTS**

2-6. Variables within an operational environment pose numerous challenges. The context in which these challenges present themselves adds layers of complexity to military endeavors. Advances in information systems, robotics, directed energy, propulsion, biological engineering, and other fields are changing the world at a rapid pace. The Army, as part of the joint force, must contend with these changes as the swift pace of human interaction and events continues to increase. This environment requires Army units that are trained, equipped, and led to operate across the competition continuum in situations that may include enemies with superior conventional capabilities, weapons of mass destruction, and advanced cyberspace and counter-space capabilities. Our units must operate competently in any terrain and in close coordination with unified action partners.

2-7. To meet global challenges, the joint force conducts operations quickly and in sufficient scale to shape an environment, prevent conflict through deterrence, prevail in combat, and consolidate gains to achieve enduring security outcomes. The Army’s role in pursuit of these objectives is unique and tied closely to the human dimension.

2-8. Enemies and adversaries are often not easy to identify or locate. State and non-state actors operate against the U.S. openly and covertly. These actors are often armed with the most advanced weapons while also using simple low-cost technologies to mitigate U.S. capabilities, exploit vulnerabilities, threaten vital interests, and promote local or regional instability. The Army operates in and among populations to counter threats that originate on land but can endanger U.S. interests across multiple domains.

#### **UNIFIED ACTION**

2-9. The Army operates with other Services in a joint comprehensive approach called unified action. Unified action is the synchronization, coordination, and/or integration of the activities of governmental and nongovernmental entities with military operations to achieve unity of effort (JP 1). Unified action partners are those military forces, governmental and nongovernmental organizations, and elements of the private sector with whom Army forces plan, coordinate, synchronize, and integrate during the conduct of operations (ADP 3-0). These operations ensure unity of effort and create multiple dilemmas for an enemy force allowing friendly forces to seize and exploit the initiative. The synergy that results from joint force operations maximizes the capabilities of U.S. military power.

2-10. The complexity and lethality of operations in the land domain demand mastery of combined arms operations, which includes the full array of joint capabilities. Combined arms operations are the synchronized application of two or more elements of one Service along with other unified action partners and their capabilities. These operations are an extension of the historical idea of combined arms—the synchronized application of arms to achieve an effect greater than if each arm was used separately. Combined arms is not a new idea. The Army’s history contains multiple examples of how well executed combined arms operations led to success on the battlefield. Mastery of combined arms operations remains necessary for success in the 21st century. It can only be achieved through demanding and repetitive training.

2-11. The Army depends on and supports air and naval forces across all domains. The Army depends on the other Services for strategic lift, joint fires, joint intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and other capabilities. The Army supports other Services, combatant commands, multinational forces, and other unified action partners with communications, intelligence, rotary-wing aviation, air and missile defense, logistics, command and control, and engineering. Collectively, the Army calls these capabilities “Army support to other Services.” These relationships create joint interdependence or an integration of complementary and reinforcing capabilities at strategic, operational, and tactical levels of warfare.

2-12. The effects of joint interdependence provide extraordinary support to tactical units. The vast array of joint capabilities enable the employment of small units in decentralized fashion across vast areas. Tactical units can employ precise joint fires with lethal and nonlethal capabilities in minutes, delivered by systems potentially hundreds of miles away.

2-13. In addition to traditional air and maritime threats, the Army and joint forces face growing threats in the space domain. Ensured access to the space domain increases combined arms effectiveness and integrates joint capabilities. The Army maneuvers over large distances with small units enabled by communications that depend on U.S. space assets. Space systems allow the Army access to communications, positioning, navigation, and timing to deploy and employ rapidly and lethally. Our adversaries understand the importance of space capabilities and continuously develop means to contest them. Army forces must be prepared to continue operations effectively when space capabilities are degraded.

2-14. Threats from cyberspace are continuous and increasing exponentially. Our adversaries and enemies heavily invest in capabilities that can disrupt or deny communications support to U.S. forces while protecting their own systems. Our adversaries routinely collaborate in cyberspace by conducting coordinated tactical operations and strategic-level information warfare that threaten U.S. interests. These threats require Army forces that are ready to operate with degraded communications, reduced situational awareness, and within a negative information environment. Army forces conduct cyberspace operations as part of unified action throughout the range of military operations.

#### **JOINT MISSIONS**

2-15. The Army gives the combatant commander depth and versatility. Because land forces can conduct a broad range of operations on a large scale, Army forces offer the combatant commander multiple options to achieve national military objectives. These capabilities include combinations of armored, mechanized, motorized, airborne, and air assault formations; attack as well as lift and reconnaissance aviation; special operations forces; and long-duration sustainment. With their ability to combine diverse capabilities for specific mission requirements, Army forces provide the combatant commander with tailorable and scalable force packages to address a broad range of possible contingencies. This simultaneous use of a broad range of friendly capabilities from across the Army, the joint force, and unified action partners creates dilemmas and narrows options for both adversaries and enemies.

2-16. The Army provides significant contributions to the accomplishment of the joint force prioritized missions established in the National Military Strategy. Joint campaigns may require land operations as part of unified action since land forces often control areas or assets that influence and enable operations in the other domains. For this reason, land forces are vital during almost all operations, even in places where maritime or air forces dominate. Joint missions are consistent with the Army’s purpose and long-standing role in national defense.

2-17. Most wars and conflicts are won by committing land forces. Land forces not only seize, occupy, and defend land areas, but they often also remain on the ground to consolidate gains until the achievement of U.S. national long-term objectives. Victory rarely stems from a single, rapid strike; swift campaigns are a rare exception to the historical norm. Due to the varying nature of war, conflicts often last months or years. Wars tend to evolve into something quite different from what was originally planned as both sides adapt to impose their will on one another. Land forces prove the most tangible and durable measure of America’s commitment to defend its interests precisely because of the effort and potential costs of doing so. The introduction of land forces signals the Nation’s willingness to protect multinational partners and deter aggression.

### **STRATEGIC-LEVEL CONTEXT FOR THE ARMY**

2-18. Readiness for ground combat is and will remain the U.S. Army’s first priority. The Army accomplishes its mission by supporting the joint force in four strategic roles: shaping operational environments, preventing conflict, prevailing in large-scale ground combat, and consolidating gains. The strategic roles clarify the enduring reasons for which our Army is organized, trained, and equipped. Army forces are further organized, trained, and equipped to provide specific core competencies delivering essential and enduring capabilities aligned with joint doctrine. The Army’s operational concept of unified land operations described in ADP 3-0 is built on the conceptual framework established by the Army’s strategic roles and its core competencies. Title 10, USC, the National Military Strategy, and DODD 5100.01 provide the overall guidance on the capabilities that the Army must provide to the Nation. The Army **shapes** operational environments and **prevents** conflict based upon the requirements of combatant commanders. The ability to **prevail** against any enemy during large-scale ground combat is what provides the military credibility necessary to deter war. Every operation must **consolidate gains** to make temporary operational success enduring and set the conditions for a sustainable and stable environment. Our non-negotiable obligation to the Nation is to **win** by achieving the combatant commander’s operational objective when the Army is committed to any type of operation.

#### **SHAPE OPERATIONAL ENVIRONMENTS**

2-19. The Army provides unique forces with capabilities to shape operational environments. Shaping operational environments allows combatant commanders to reassure partners and deter aggression while establishing conditions that support the potential employment of joint forces. Army regionally aligned forces—including special operations units, Army Reserve units, and Army National Guard units—assist partners with internal defense and develop the capabilities needed to deter adversaries and defeat enemies. (See figure 2-2.) Army forces further develop relationships with multinational partner land forces, share intelligence, strengthen their security forces, increase cultural awareness, and conduct bilateral and multilateral military exercises. Through efforts such as the State Partnership Program, Army National Guard and Reserve units supply unique and dual-trained Soldiers with special skills obtained as civilians to assist in medical and engineering activities, disaster preparedness, critical infrastructure management, and resource protection. Together, these efforts allow the Army to maintain a global landpower network that is critical in shaping operational environments and winning wars. Army forces conduct shaping operations through the day-to-day actions of its Service component commanders, trainers, advisors, and logistic activities as specified under Title 10, USC and support to Title 22 and Title 50, USC.

#### **PREVENT CONFLICT**

2-20. Preventing conflict includes all activities that deter adversary military actions which threaten allies or partners and deny them the ability to achieve objectives counter to U.S. interests. A well-trained, credible, and capable Army reduces the risk of aggression by adversaries because it raises both the risk and potential cost of military action to their forces. Moving ready and trained Army forces into a region tells adversaries that the United States is prepared and willing to protect its interests. Partner nations under external threats understand that introducing U.S. forces alters the regional military balance of power in their favor and bolsters their resolve to resist aggression. Multinational partners and adversaries recognize that Army forces—combined with the nation’s joint air, maritime, and space-based forces—are dominant and therefore are a deterrence to armed conflict. This role meets the objectives described in the *National Military Strategy*.

#### **PREVAIL IN LARGE-SCALE GROUND CONFLICT**

2-21. The Army’s capability and capacity to conduct large-scale ground combat is unique and foundational to its other roles. Only the Army has the capabilities necessary for sustained ground combat anywhere in the world. The credibility inherent in its ability to conduct large-scale ground combat as part of the joint force is a critical part of U.S. conventional deterrence. It is a primary source of assurance to friendly nations and an important factor in worldwide stability. The U.S. Army conducts large-scale ground combat as part of the joint force. When it deploys and fights, the Army both enables and is enabled by the other Services when they perform their roles. An Army that can defeat any enemy worldwide requires professionally committed leadership, well-equipped and trained units, and proficiency in the conduct of joint and multinational operations. Maintaining the readiness necessary for large-scale ground combat is a difficult and continual process that consumes significant time and resources. Readiness for large-scale ground combat operations saves lives.

#### **CONSOLIDATE GAINS**

2-22. Operations to consolidate gains make temporary operational successes enduring and set the conditions to facilitate the transition of control over territory to legitimate authorities. Army forces enable the joint force commander to capitalize on operational success by following through to ensure sustainable conditions on the ground. Consolidation of gains is an integral part of winning armed conflict and is essential to retaining the long-term initiative over determined adversaries. Army forces reinforce and integrate the efforts of all unified action partners when they consolidate gains. Operations serve a higher national purpose in support of U.S. interests and are planned and executed to support that purpose at each echelon. A clear understanding of the higher purpose of the mission and operational environment determines what must happen to consolidate gains during the course of operations. How well ground forces consolidate gains determines in large part how enduring the results of operations will be. Effectively consolidating gains increases options for national leaders and contributes to decisive outcomes. (See figure 2-3.)

#### **WIN**

2-23. Winning is the achievement of the purpose of an operation and the fulfillment of its objectives. The Army wins when it successfully performs its roles as part of the joint force during operations. It wins when it effectively shapes an operational environment for combatant commanders and when it responds rapidly with enough combat power to prevent war through deterrence. When required to fight, the Army’s ability to prevail in large-scale ground combat becomes a decisive factor in breaking an enemy’s will to continue fighting. Army forces win when the enemy is defeated to the degree that it can no longer achieve their objectives or effectively contest the joint force on land. To ensure that the military results of combat are not temporary, the Army follows through with its unique capability to consolidate gains and ensure enduring outcomes that are favorable to U.S. interests.

### **CORE COMPETENCIES**

2-24. Core competencies clearly express how the Army contributes to national defense and joint force operations. The Army’s five core competencies support the Army mission to ensure forces can achieve the Army’s strategic roles. A core competency is not a task; it is a capability stated in general terms.

#### **PROMPT AND SUSTAIN LAND COMBAT**

2-25. Prompt and sustained land combat is the assigned function of the Army, directed both by Congress in Title 10, USC, and by DODD 5100.01. This function is the foundation from which the Army builds its ability to win in combat. It is the primary function for which the Army organizes, trains, and equips forces. Prompt land combat is what requires the Army’s expeditionary capability: the ability to deploy on short notice task-organized forces capable of immediately conducting operations upon arrival to austere locations. Sustained land combat requires the Army to campaign with the power to conduct extended operations and continuous consolidation of gains necessary to achieve the objectives set for the Army by the joint force. Sustained land combat spans the range of military operations. It requires a force that can sustain its efforts for as long as necessary and can adapt to unpredictable changes in an operational environment.

#### **COMBINED ARMS OPERATIONS**

2-26. All operations are combined arms operations. Combined arms is the synchronized and simultaneous application of arms to achieve an effect greater than if each element was used separately or sequentially (ADP 3-0). Combined arms includes Army capabilities and joint, multinational, and other unified action partner capabilities. Combined arms operations integrate leadership, information, and each of the warfighting functions. Used destructively, combined arms integrate different capabilities so that responding to one capability makes the enemy vulnerable to another. Combined arms multiply the effects of Army and joint capabilities in operations. They require highly trained Soldiers, skilled leaders, and integrated information systems. Commanders synchronize combined arms capabilities using command and control to employ combat power to their best advantage.

2-27. **Combined arms maneuver** is the application of combat power in time and space to defeat enemy ground forces; seize, occupy, and defend terrain; and achieve physical, temporal, and psychological advantages over the enemy. Combined arms maneuver seizes, retains, and exploits the initiative. Army forces apply combat power from unexpected directions, achieve surprise, and render an enemy force unable to respond effectively.

2-28. **Wide area security** is the application of the elements of combat power to protect populations, unified action partners, infrastructure, and activities to deny enemy forces positions of advantage across large expanses, to consolidate gains, and to retain the initiative. Wide area security includes six stability tasks in support of a host nation: establish civil security, establish civil control, restore essential services, support governance, support economic and infrastructure development, and conduct security cooperation.

2-29. **Armored and mechanized operations** provide the capability to conduct sustained and large-scale ground combat operations. The Army has the unique capability to employ large formations of armored, mechanized, and motorized forces that provide protected ground mobility and firepower. These forces can be an asymmetric advantage when used against an enemy force without comparable capability, and they may be used to defeat an enemy’s anti-access and area-denial measures when employed from offset objectives. Armored, mechanized, and motorized forces are an essential part of the joint force as a maneuver force in close combat. Armored and mechanized forces serve as a deterrent to armed conflict and can deploy worldwide.

2-30. The Army uses **airborne and air assault operations**, as part of the joint force, to project large military forces rapidly into an operational area, sustain those forces in the face of armed opposition, and, if necessary, defeat enemy anti-access and area-denial capabilities. Projecting and sustaining airborne and air assault forces requires the capability to secure multiple entry points into an operational area. The joint force application of airborne and air assault operations for forcible entry gives leaders flexibility and depth to set conditions. Airborne and air assault operations capitalize on mobility to surprise an enemy force, seize a lodgment, and gain the initiative. Airborne operations are unique from other operations in that they can project and deliver operationally significant forces over strategic distances.

#### **SPECIAL OPERATIONS**

2-31. Special operations require unique modes of employment, tactics, equipment, and training. Army special operations forces provide combatant commanders with precise lethal and nonlethal capabilities. These capabilities include special warfare and surgical strike operations in hostile, denied, or politically sensitive areas. These operations may be time sensitive, clandestine, low visibility, and high risk. Special operations forces possess uniquely assessed, organized, trained, and equipped Soldiers. The interdependence of special operations and conventional forces, gained by the right mix of complementary and reinforcing capabilities, enhances success throughout the range of military operations across the competition continuum. (See figure 2-4.)

#### **SET AND SUSTAIN THE THEATER FOR THE JOINT FORCE**

2-32. The Army’s ability to set and sustain the theater is essential to allowing the joint force to seize the initiative while restricting an enemy force’s options. Setting the theater for the joint force includes the establishment of access and infrastructure to support joint force operations. The Army possesses unique capabilities to establish and maintain vital infrastructure and support the joint force commander. These capabilities include intelligence support; communications; port and airfield opening; logistics; ground-based air defense; chemical defense; and reception, staging, onward movement, and integration. Sustaining the theater for the joint force includes theater sustainment and meeting executive agent responsibilities. Maintaining critical infrastructure—as well as sustaining joint forces, unified action partners, and multinational forces—is accomplished through the Army’s support to other Services, executive agent, and Title 10, USC, requirements. The Army uses Army Service component commands, forward deployed forces, and rotational forces to develop, sustain, and operate this theater structure.

#### **INTEGRATE NATIONAL, MULTINATIONAL, AND JOINT POWER ON LAND**

2-33. The Army has the largest number of headquarters that are joint task force headquarters capable and can combine all elements of national, multinational, and joint power. Army headquarters are designed to be the core components that integrate unified action partner capabilities into a Service headquarters or rapidly transition from a Service headquarters into a joint or multinational joint task force or land component command. These headquarters provide the capability to plan, prepare, execute, and assess joint and multinational operations. Army forces support partners with situational understanding, security, and logistics. Army forces ensure combatant commanders possess the ability to reinforce and sustain land forces rapidly through forward positioning, theater infrastructure capabilities, and the use of prepositioned equipment and supplies. Army headquarters and forces help impose order to chaotic situations and synchronize plans, programs, and efforts necessary to accomplish the mission.

### **UNIFIED LAND OPERATIONS**

2-34. Army forces accomplish their missions through the operational concept called unified land operations. *Unified land operations* is the simultaneous execution of offense, defense, stability, and defense support of civil authorities across multiple domains to shape operational environments, prevent conflict, prevail in largescale ground combat, and consolidate gains as part of unified action (ADP 3-0). Army forces defeat enemy forces, control terrain, protect populations, and preserve joint force freedom of action in the land domain by applying the Army core competencies. Army operations conducted overseas encompass offensive, defensive, and stability operations. Within the United States, the Army supports civil authorities through DSCA. If enemy forces threaten the homeland, Army forces combine offense and defense with DSCA. The effort accorded to each element is proportional to the mission and varies with the situation and conditions of an operational environment. (See figure 2-5.)

2-35. During operations, Army forces enable joint force freedom of action by denying enemy forces the ability to operate uncontested in domains other than land wherever possible. Leaders synchronize the efforts of unified action partners across multiple domains to ensure unity of effort. Army forces adapt continuously to seize, retain, and exploit the initiative. Unified land operations create multiple dilemmas for the enemy by placing enemy forces and objectives at risk. Army forces have the mobility, protection, and firepower necessary to strike enemy forces unexpectedly from many directions creating multiple dilemmas for the enemy commander. Even when conducting dispersed operations, mobile combined arms teams exercising mission command can concentrate combat power rapidly to isolate enemy forces, attack critical enemy assets, and exploit opportunities.

### **MISSION COMMAND**

2-36. Mission command is an approach that empowers subordinates and is necessary for success in complex and ambiguous environments. Two hundred years ago, commanders could generally see the entire battlefield on which they fought as well as the friendly and enemy forces on that ground. This meant that commanders could personally observe situations, make decisions, and closely control their forces during battle.

2-37. By the time of the Civil War, the growth of armies in size and complexity extended forces beyond the direct view of one person. Commanders could no longer personally control all the forces under their command. As a result, American commanders began to practice an approach that favored decentralized execution. This approach meant using mission orders that emphasized the purpose of an operation to achieve a desired end state rather than the accomplishment of individual tasks. Subordinate leaders at all echelons were required to exercise initiative within the commander’s intent to accomplish missions.

2-38. The 1905 Field Service Regulation first codified these ideas. It contained the following passage that served as an early explanation of the mission command approach:

> *"An order should not trespass on the province of the subordinate. It should contain everything, which is beyond the independent authority of the subordinate, but nothing more. When the transmission of orders involves a considerable period of time during which the situation may change, detailed instructions are to be avoided. The same rule holds when orders may have to be carried out under circumstances, which the originator of the order cannot completely forecast, in such cases, letters of guidance are more appropriate. It should lay stress upon the object to be attained, and leave open the means to be employed."*
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2-39. Subsequent versions of our Army’s operations manual have built on this idea. Mission command is the Army’s approach to command and control. Over time, changes within operational environments required the Army to decentralize operations to the maximum extent possible. Mission command allows for the empowerment of subordinates to exercise disciplined initiative and implement decisions based on their understanding of the commander’s intent rather than a directed order or task.
2-40. Mission command requires leaders at the lowest practical echelon to seize, retain, and exploit the initiative by directing action under varying degrees of uncertainty. Commanders seek to counter the uncertainty of an environment by empowering subordinates at the lowest level to make decisions, act, and quickly adapt to changing circumstances. These situations may lead a subordinate to deviate from the initial directive as long as it is within the desired commander’s intent. Mission command is based on mutual trust and a shared understanding of purpose among commanders, subordinates, and unified action partners. In 1941 Admiral E. J. King stressed the importance of training leaders and units in mission command:

> *"If subordinates are deprived—as they now are—of that training and experience which will enable them to act “on their own”—if they do not know, by constant practice, how to exercise “initiative of the subordinates”—if they are reluctant (afraid) to act because they are accustomed to detailed orders and instructions—if they are not habituated to think, to judge, to decide and to act for themselves in their several echelons of command—we shall be in sorry case when the time of “active operations” arrives."*
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2-41. Mission command requires a command climate in which commanders encourage subordinates to accept risk and exercise disciplined initiative to seize opportunities and to counter threats, all within the commander’s intent. Commanders realize that subordinates will make errors. Successful commanders allow subordinates to learn through their mistakes and develop experience. With an accepting command climate, subordinates gain the experience required to operate on their own. Using mission orders, commanders focus on the purpose of the operation rather than on the details of how to perform assigned tasks. This focus minimizes centralized control and allows subordinates the greatest freedom of action. When delegating authority to subordinates, commanders set the necessary conditions for success by allocating appropriate resources to subordinates based on assigned tasks and conducting shaping operations that enable their subordinates’ success.

2-42. Effective operations are possible when commanders have the expertise and communications to synchronize Army, joint, and multinational combat power and to integrate the effects of unified action partners. Commanders, supported by their staffs, use the operations process to drive the conceptual and detailed planning necessary to understand, visualize, and describe their operational environments; make and articulate decisions; and direct, lead, and assess military operations. The operations process of plan, prepare, execute, and assess enables Army forces to integrate joint, multinational, and other unified action partner capabilities throughout operations.

2-43. Commanders cannot exercise command and control alone. The science of control—regulating, monitoring, and directing unit actions—requires sophisticated and rugged information systems along with a well-trained staff to employ appropriate processes. Even knowledgeable and charismatic commanders cannot control everything beyond their immediate surroundings without the supporting personnel, networks, information systems, processes and procedures, and facilities and equipment. These components, as well as space and cyber capabilities, help commanders understand situations to make and implement better decisions.

## **Chapter 3: Ready to Fight, Prepared for the Future, Determined to Win**

> *"[T]hrough all this welter of change and development your mission remains fixed, determined, inviolable—it is to win our wars. Everything else in your professional career is but corollary to this vital dedication. … [Y]ou are the ones who are trained to fight; yours is the profession of arms—the will to win, the sure knowledge that in war there is no substitute for victory…."* General Douglas MacArthur
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The future Army will be ready and able to fight and win in our Nation’s most lethal wars. Intelligence, speed, power, and endurance will define an expeditionary 21st century force that arrives to fight, stays to win, integrates and supports joint and unified action partners, and helps build a better future. Tough, professional, highly trained Soldiers, guided by the Army Values and Warrior Ethos, remain our core advantage and ensure we can adapt to any mission. Our ability to anticipate change, learn, and innovate in the face of uncertainty will sustain our Army as America’s land force for decisive action.

### **A VISION FOR TODAY AND TOMORROW**

3-1. The U.S. Army is the most lethal and capable ground combat force in history. It has proven this in multiple conflicts, across a broad spectrum of operations, in various locations around the world, defending the Nation and serving the American people well for over 240 years. The key to this success has been the skill and grit of the American Soldier, the quality of its leaders, the superiority of its equipment, and the ability of the Army—Regular Army, Army National Guard, and Army Reserve—to adapt to and dominate a complex and continuously changing environment as a member of the joint force.

3-2. As we look ahead, competitors such as China and Russia will increasingly challenge the United States and our allies in Europe, the Middle East, and the Indo-Pacific region. At the same time, we should expect these countries’ arms, equipment, and tactics to be used against us by others, including threats such as North Korea and Iran, failed states, and terrorist groups. Our adversaries’ ambitions and the accelerating pace of technological change will create challenges and opportunities for the Army’s battlefield superiority.

3-3. Meanwhile, the many demands on our Nation’s resources will put downward pressure on the defense budget in the future, forcing the Army to continue making difficult choices about how it spends valuable dollars to meet national military objectives and compelling us to become ever more efficient. A continued commitment to strengthening our alliances and building partnerships will help offset these challenges.

### **ARMY MISSION**

3-4. The Army mission—our purpose—remains constant: to deploy, fight, and win our Nation’s wars by providing ready, prompt, and sustained land dominance by Army forces across the full spectrum of conflict as part of the joint force. The Army mission is vital to the nation because we are a Service capable of defeating enemy ground forces and indefinitely seizing and controlling those things an adversary prizes most—its land, its resources, and its population.

3-5. Given the threats and challenges ahead, it is imperative the Army has a clear and coherent vision of where it wants to be in the coming years so that Army forces retain overmatch against all potential adversaries and remain capable of accomplishing our mission in the future. As such, the Army Vision, our future end state, states—

> "The Army of 2028 will be ready to deploy, fight, and win decisively against any adversary, anytime and anywhere, in a joint, multi-domain, high-intensity conflict, while simultaneously deterring others and maintaining its ability to conduct irregular warfare. The Army will do this through the employment of modern manned and unmanned ground combat vehicles, aircraft, sustainment systems, and weapons, coupled with robust combined arms formations and tactics based on a modern warfighting doctrine and centered on exceptional Leaders and Soldiers of unmatched lethality."
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3-6. To achieve our vision, the Army must meet five objectives in the coming years:

* Man.
* Organize.
* Train.
* Equip.
* Lead.

3-7. The first objective is to man. This involves growing the Regular Army above 500,000 Soldiers, with associated growth in the National Guard and Army Reserve. The Army will meet this objective by recruiting and retaining high quality, physically fit, mentally tough Soldiers who can deploy, fight, and win decisively on any future battlefield. (See figure 3-1.)

3-8. Organize is the second objective that ensures warfighting formations have sufficient infantry, armor, engineer, artillery, and air defense assets. Units from brigade through corps must also have the ability to conduct sustained ground and air intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance; electronic warfare; and cyberspace operations to shape the battlefield across all domains. Aviation, additional combat support, and robust logistic support must be readily available to units.

3-9. The third objective is train. Effective training focuses on high-intensity conflict, with an emphasis on operating in dense urban terrain, in electronically degraded environments, and under constant surveillance. Training must be tough, realistic, iterative, and dynamic. Continuous movement, battlefield innovation, and combined arms maneuver with the joint force, allies, and partners must be its hallmarks. This training requires rapid expansion of our synthetic training environments and distributing simulations capabilities further down to the company level to significantly enhance Soldier and team lethality.

3-10. Equip is the fourth objective. Equipping the Army means modernizing the force. First, the Army reforms the current acquisition system. Second, the Army unifies the modernization enterprise under a single command to focus the Army’s efforts on delivering the weapons, combat vehicles, sustainment systems, and equipment that Soldiers need when they need it. This modernization includes experimenting with and developing autonomous systems, artificial intelligence, and robotics to make Soldiers more effective and units less logistically dependent.

3-11. The last objective is lead. The Army will develop smart, thoughtful, and innovative leaders of character who are comfortable with complexity and capable of operating from the tactical to the strategic level. We will build a new talent management-based personnel system that leverages the knowledge, skills, behaviors, and preferences of its officers and noncommissioned officers. This system, when coupled with more flexible career models, will enable the Army to better attract, identify, develop, and place these leaders to optimize outcomes for all.

3-12. To achieve and sustain these objectives given the uncertainty of future budgets, Army leaders continually assess everything we do. They identify lower value activities to discontinue and note ways to improve what we must do to free up time, money, and manpower for our top priorities. Trusting and empowering subordinate leaders facilitates both reform and greater performance.

3-13. In all these efforts, we will ensure that our Soldiers, DA Civilians, and their Families enjoy the professional opportunities and quality of life they deserve. From the top down we must also remain committed to the Army Values. The Army is at its best when the total force works and fights as one team, and our Army Values, coupled with our Warrior Ethos, guide and serve us well as we face the challenges ahead.

3-14. Since 1775, the U.S. Army has proven itself absolutely vital to protecting the American people, safeguarding the Nation, and advancing our interests abroad. This fact remains true today. Our ability to do so will be even more critical in the future as threats continue to emerge and evolve, becoming ever more dangerous and more complex. To remain ready to accomplish our mission of fighting and winning the Nation’s wars, the Army must fulfill the future Army vision. We are confident that with the right leadership, the proper focus, sufficient resources, and sustained effort the U.S. Army will achieve our vision, remain the world’s premier fighting force, and serve the Nation well for decades to come.