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.