3-6. Unity of effort is not attained without trust between all participants. Developing mutual trust and working partnerships between all of the various organizations and especially the key leaders and staff of host- nation and international actors are essential to the success of stability tasks—especially security cooperation. Trust begins at the personal level. Trusted Army professionals understand that it is the combined military expertise that their organizations bring—combined with their individual character, competence, and commitment in adherence to the moral principles of the Army Ethic—that make the greatest positive contribution to the Army special operations forces mission. Interpersonal relationships of key actors at the local, regional, and national levels, built on shared understanding, mutual respect, and personal trust, are most important and effective in accomplishing stability tasks and security cooperation efforts. Trust also contributes to the legitimacy of the operation and those critical personal relationships assist in achieving the desired end states.

2-65. The size, composition, and capabilities of the forces task-organized under the division may vary between divisions involved in the same campaign, and they may change from one operational phase to another. Operations primarily focused on destruction of a conventional enemy military force (the conduct of offense and defense tasks) require a different mix of forces and capabilities from those required for an operation primarily focused on the protection of civil populations (the conduct of stability tasks). Figure 2-4 on page 2-14 shows an example division task organization.

9-107. Planners then proceed to initially array friendly forces starting with the decisive operation and continuing with all shaping and sustaining operations. Planners normally array ground forces two levels below their echelon. The initial array focuses on generic ground maneuver units without regard to specific type or task organization and then considers all appropriate intangible factors. For example, at corps level, planners array generic brigades. During this step, planners do not assign missions to specific units; they only consider which forces are necessary to accomplish their task. In this step, planners also array assets to accomplish essential stability tasks.

2-52. The culminating point is a point at which a force no longer has the capability to continue its form of operations, offense or defense (JP 5-0). Culmination represents a crucial shift in relative combat power. It is relevant to both attackers and defenders at each level of warfare. While conducting offensive operations, the culminating point occurs when a force cannot continue the attack and must assume a defensive posture or execute an operational pause. While conducting a defense, it occurs when a force can no longer defend itself and must withdraw or risk destruction. The culminating point is more difficult to identify when Army forces perform stability tasks. Two conditions can result in culmination while performing stability tasks: units being too dispersed to achieve security and units lacking required resources to achieve the end state. While performing DSCA tasks, culmination may occur if forces must respond to more catastrophic events than they can manage simultaneously. Such a situation results in culmination due to exhaustion.

3-24. Consolidate gains is integral to the conclusion of all military operations, and it requires deliberate planning, preparation and resources to ensure sustainable success. This planning should ensure U.S. forces operate in a way that actively facilitates achievement of the desired post-hostilities end state and transition to legitimate authorities. Planners should anticipate task organization changes as conditions on the ground change over time, based on mission and operational variables. For example, additional engineer, military police, civil affairs, psychological operations, and sustainment capabilities are typically required to support the security and stability of large areas as they stabilize over time. In some instances, Army forces will be in charge of integrating and synchronizing these activities, in others Army forces will be in support. However, by backwards planning from the end state, and prioritizing the transition to legitimate authority, rather than simply planning from deployment of forces to the quick and efficient defeat of the enemy, commanders facilitate long-term success, limit mission creep, and minimize post-conflict problems.

6-170. The unit’s defensive plans must address how preparations for, and the conduct of, the area defense impact the civilian population of the AO. This includes the conduct of noncombatant evacuation operations for U.S. civilians and other authorized groups. The commander’s legal obligations to that civilian population must be met as long as meeting those obligations does not deprive the defense of necessary resources. Ideally, the host-nation government will have the capability to provide area security for its population and conduct the primary stability tasks. To the extent that a host-nation government is unable to conduct the immediately necessary stability tasks, the defending unit will perform stability tasks within its capability and request further support.

1-160. The division and corps consolidation areas generally have different characteristics based on the situation. For a division, the BCT assigned responsibility for the consolidation area will initially focus primarily on security tasks that help maintain the tempo of operations in other areas, and it is likely to conduct offensive tasks to defeat or destroy enemy remnants in order to protect friendly forces positioned in or moving through the area. The division consolidation area grows as the BCTs in close operations advance. When division boundaries shift, as is likely during the offense, the corps consolidation area will grow, and the balance of security and stability tasks may shift towards more of a stability focus, as conditions allow. The division responsible for the corps consolidation area conducts tasks designed to set conditions for the handover of terrain to host-nation forces or legitimate civilian authorities.

1-182. The Army is a globally engaged, regionally responsive force providing a full range of capabilities to combatant commanders. As part of a joint interdependent team, Army forces combine offensive, defensive, and stability tasks to seize, retain, and exploit the initiative and consolidate gains. Army forces shape operational environments, prevent conflict, fight and win in large-scale ground combat, and consolidate gains. Operations to shape, prevent, defend, attack, and consolidate gains summarize the Army’s roles as part of a joint force.

4-209. Disaster response operations, in particular, depend on flexible and effective sustainment. Success depends on unity of effort with federal, state, and commercial partners; continuous coordination is critical. Disaster response places stress on the logistic system because it needs to respond very rapidly and sometimes in an austere environment. Sustainment will often require resources from outside the disaster area, since local supply and transportation within the operational area may be dysfunctional. Within the homeland, sustainment benefits from excellent infrastructure (outside the disaster area), which allows for a greatly reduced logistics footprint. However, it also means that the challenges of sustaining the force are very different from stability tasks.

3-58. Army units at the corps and lower echelons execute shaping tasks and provide the forces for security cooperation. Army forces may support SFA, FID, or security assistance by participating in multinational exercises, medical and other civil-military operations, development assistance, and training exchanges. Army forces at corps echelons and below directly engage with partner forces, governmental and nongovernmental organizations, and civilian populations to accomplish their mission, build rapport, and improve conditions to promote stability.

4-198. Information collection is a task of the intelligence warfighting function. In operations outside the United States, the intelligence warfighting function supports the exercise of command and control. As a function, intelligence facilitates situational understanding and supports decision making. The intelligence process supports the operations process through understanding the commander's information requirements, analyzing information from all sources, and conducting operations to develop the situation. The Army synchronizes its intelligence efforts with unified action partners to achieve unity of effort and to meet the commander's intent. In DSCA, the intelligence process normally used by Army staffs and units performing other decisive action operations (offensive, defensive, or stability) must be modified. There are four steps in this process (plan, collect, produce, and disseminate); and two continuing activities that occur across all four steps (analysis and assessment). Commanders drive this process. In DSCA, commanders determine their priorities for information collection, which the battalion or brigade intelligence officer (S-2) or assistant chief of staff, intelligence (G-2) satisfies.

9-130. A decision point is a point in space and time when the commander or staff anticipates making a key decision concerning a specific course of action (JP 5-0). Decision points may be associated with the friendly force, the status of ongoing operations, and with CCIRs that describe what information the commander needs to make the anticipated decision. A decision point requires a decision by the commander. It does not dictate what the decision is, only that the commander must make one, and when and where it should be made to maximally impact friendly or enemy COAs or the accomplishment of stability tasks.

1-70. The simultaneity of the offense, defense, and stability tasks is not absolute at every level. The higher the echelon, the greater the possibility of simultaneous offense, defense, and stability tasks. At lower echelons, all of a unit’s combat power may be required to execute a specific task. As an example, a division may conduct offensive, defensive, and stability tasks simultaneously in some form. Subordinate brigades perform some combination of offensive, defensive, and stability tasks, but they are unlikely able to perform all three simultaneously during large-scale combat operations.

1-66. Army operations to consolidate gains include activities to make enduring any temporary operational success and to set the conditions for a sustainable environment, allowing for a transition of control to legitimate civil authorities. Consolidation of gains is an integral and continuous part of armed conflict, and it is necessary for achieving success across the range of military operations. Army forces deliberately plan to consolidate gains during all phases of an operation. Early and effective consolidation activities are a form of exploitation conducted while other operations are ongoing, and they enable the achievement of lasting favorable outcomes in the shortest time span. Army forces conduct these activities with unified action partners. In some instances, Army forces will be in charge of integrating forces and synchronizing activities to consolidate gains. In other situations, Army forces will be in support. Army forces may conduct stability tasks for a sustained period of time over large land areas. While Army forces consolidate gains throughout an operation, consolidating gains becomes the focus of Army forces after large-scale combat operations have concluded. Army operations to consolidate gains correspond with stabilize and enable civil authority phases of a joint operation. (Chapter 8 describes how Army forces, as part of a joint team, consolidate gains.)

2-80. The limit of a unit’s operational reach is its culminating point. The culminating point is the point at which a force no longer has the capability to continue its form of operations, offense or defense (JP 5-0). Culmination represents a crucial shift in relative combat power. It is relevant to both attackers and defenders at each level of warfare. While conducting offensive tasks, the culminating point occurs when the force cannot continue the attack and must assume a defensive posture or execute an operational pause. While conducting defensive tasks, it occurs when the force can no longer defend itself and must withdraw or risk destruction. The culminating point is more difficult to identify when Army forces conduct stability tasks. Two conditions can result in culmination: units being too dispersed to achieve security and units lacking required resources to achieve the end state.

1-23. Army operations to consolidate gains include activities to make temporary operational success enduring and to set the conditions for a stable environment, allowing for a transition of control to legitimate civil authorities. Consolidation of gains is an integral and continuous part of armed conflict, and it is necessary for achieving success across the range of military operations. Army forces deliberately plan to consolidate gains during all phases of an operation. Early and effective consolidation activities are a form of exploitation conducted while other operations are ongoing, and they enable the achievement of lasting favorable outcomes in the shortest time span. Army forces conduct these activities with unified action partners. In some instances, Army forces are in charge of integrating forces and synchronizing activities to consolidate gains. In other situations, Army forces are in support of activities to consolidate gains. Army forces may conduct stability tasks for a sustained period of time over large land areas.

1-71. Training is the most important thing the Army does to prepare for operations. It is the cornerstone of combat readiness and the foundation for successful operations. Effective training must be commander driven, rigorous, realistic, and to the standard and under the conditions that units expect to operate in during combat. Realistic training with limited time and resources demands that commanders focus their unit training efforts to maximize repetitions under varying conditions to build proficiency. Units execute effective individual and collective training based on the Army’s principles of training as described in ADP 7-0. Through training and leader development, units achieve the tactical and technical competence that builds confidence and allows them to conduct successful operations across the competition continuum. Achieving this competence requires specific, dedicated training on offensive, defensive, and stability or defense support of civil authorities (DSCA) tasks. Training continues in deployed units to sustain skills and to adapt to changes in an operational environment. (See ADP 7-0 for training doctrine.)

9-129. A critical event is an event that directly influences mission accomplishment. Critical events include events that trigger significant actions or decisions (such as commitment of an enemy reserve), complicated actions requiring detailed study (such as a passage of lines), and essential tasks. The list of critical events includes major events from the unit’s current position through mission accomplishment. It includes reactions by civilians that potentially affect operations or require allocation of significant assets to account for essential stability tasks.

8-50. Civil security is the provision of security for state entities and the population, including protection from internal and external threats. Establishing a safe, secure, and stable environment is crucial to obtaining local support for military operations. The primary task of establishing civil security may include SFA tasks, depending on the tasks assigned. As soon as a host-nation’s security forces can perform this task, Army forces transition civil security responsibilities to them. Within the security sector, transformation tasks focus on developing legitimate, sustainable, and stable security institutions. Civil security sets the conditions for enduring stability and peace.

4-18. An area of interest is that area of concern to the commander, including the area of influence, areas adjacent thereto, and extending into enemy territory (JP 3-0). This area also includes areas occupied by enemy forces who could jeopardize the accomplishment of the mission. An area of interest for stability or DSCA may be much larger than that area associated with the offense and defense. The area of interest always encompasses aspects of the air, cyberspace, and space domains, since capabilities resident in all three enable and affect operations on land.