buglerbilly
08-07-10, 11:15 AM
By KATE BRANNEN
Published: 7 Jul 2010 17:53
The U.S. Army is continuing its doctrinal overhaul with its new Army Operating Concept, which describes combined arms maneuver and security operations as the service's core contributions to the joint force.
The concept, which is expected to be published at the end of August, describes how the Army will fight in 2016 to 2028. Defense News obtained a June 15 draft copy.
The concept development work was led by Army Brig. Gen. H.R. McMaster, who was recently asked by Gen. David Petraeus to join him in Afghanistan to be his top officer in charge of plans. McMaster currently serves as director of the Army Capabilities Integration Center's (ARCIC) Concepts Development and Experimentation Directorate, which is part of the Army's Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC).
McMaster's TRADOC effort expands on the ideas introduced in the Army's Capstone Concept, published in December.
The draft operating concept describes the Army Capstone Concept as "a landmark document," which "marked a significant departure from almost a decade of prior Army conceptual work."
Both documents reject earlier military doctrine that predicted that improvements in technology, particularly advancements in surveillance, communications and information technology, would enable forces to win wars quickly.
This intellectual departure is evident in the concept's discussion of reconnaissance, which is described as a more active operation compared with gathering information about the environment through sensors.
Reconnaissance "requires the ability to fight for information in close contact with populations and enemies, constant vigilance, and available reserves to reinforce units once they gain contact with the enemy," the concept says.
The Army also moves away from the term ISR, or intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
"It is important to emphasize the distinction between the warfighting function of intelligence, the tactical task of surveillance, and the various forms of reconnaissance operations," the concept says. "The recognition of the differences between these terms stands in stark contrast to conventional wisdom, which amalgamates them using the acronym ISR, thereby stripping each of its meaning."
Combined arms maneuver and security operations are described as the two main ways the Army conducts full-spectrum operations. Army forces need to be able to do both within the context of joint, interagency, intergovernmental and multinational efforts, the concept says.
Army forces conduct combined arms maneuver to gain "physical, temporal, and psychological advantages over enemy organizations, and they conduct security operations to "consolidate gains and ensure freedom of movement and action," the concept says.
Put simply, combined arms maneuver is how Army forces can beat the enemy and through security operations, how they can maintain those gains.
If Army forces can do both of these things effectively at the operational and tactical levels, they're in good shape, according to the document.
Chapter five outlines the kinds of operations the Army thinks it should be prepared for in the future. They include homeland defense and civil support, sustained engagement, entry operations, military cyberspace operations, foreign humanitarian assistance, and preventing proliferation and combating weapons of mass destruction.
The concept is expected to influence future Army force structure decisions, concept writing and capabilities development, according to the draft paper.
After it is released, a series of subordinate concepts will be published that address the Army's six warfighting functions: mission command, intelligence, movement and maneuver, fires, sustainment and protection.
Published: 7 Jul 2010 17:53
The U.S. Army is continuing its doctrinal overhaul with its new Army Operating Concept, which describes combined arms maneuver and security operations as the service's core contributions to the joint force.
The concept, which is expected to be published at the end of August, describes how the Army will fight in 2016 to 2028. Defense News obtained a June 15 draft copy.
The concept development work was led by Army Brig. Gen. H.R. McMaster, who was recently asked by Gen. David Petraeus to join him in Afghanistan to be his top officer in charge of plans. McMaster currently serves as director of the Army Capabilities Integration Center's (ARCIC) Concepts Development and Experimentation Directorate, which is part of the Army's Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC).
McMaster's TRADOC effort expands on the ideas introduced in the Army's Capstone Concept, published in December.
The draft operating concept describes the Army Capstone Concept as "a landmark document," which "marked a significant departure from almost a decade of prior Army conceptual work."
Both documents reject earlier military doctrine that predicted that improvements in technology, particularly advancements in surveillance, communications and information technology, would enable forces to win wars quickly.
This intellectual departure is evident in the concept's discussion of reconnaissance, which is described as a more active operation compared with gathering information about the environment through sensors.
Reconnaissance "requires the ability to fight for information in close contact with populations and enemies, constant vigilance, and available reserves to reinforce units once they gain contact with the enemy," the concept says.
The Army also moves away from the term ISR, or intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
"It is important to emphasize the distinction between the warfighting function of intelligence, the tactical task of surveillance, and the various forms of reconnaissance operations," the concept says. "The recognition of the differences between these terms stands in stark contrast to conventional wisdom, which amalgamates them using the acronym ISR, thereby stripping each of its meaning."
Combined arms maneuver and security operations are described as the two main ways the Army conducts full-spectrum operations. Army forces need to be able to do both within the context of joint, interagency, intergovernmental and multinational efforts, the concept says.
Army forces conduct combined arms maneuver to gain "physical, temporal, and psychological advantages over enemy organizations, and they conduct security operations to "consolidate gains and ensure freedom of movement and action," the concept says.
Put simply, combined arms maneuver is how Army forces can beat the enemy and through security operations, how they can maintain those gains.
If Army forces can do both of these things effectively at the operational and tactical levels, they're in good shape, according to the document.
Chapter five outlines the kinds of operations the Army thinks it should be prepared for in the future. They include homeland defense and civil support, sustained engagement, entry operations, military cyberspace operations, foreign humanitarian assistance, and preventing proliferation and combating weapons of mass destruction.
The concept is expected to influence future Army force structure decisions, concept writing and capabilities development, according to the draft paper.
After it is released, a series of subordinate concepts will be published that address the Army's six warfighting functions: mission command, intelligence, movement and maneuver, fires, sustainment and protection.