3-64. An inherent, complementary relationship exists between using lethal force and applying military capabilities for nonlethal purposes. Though each situation requires a different mix of violence and constraint, lethal and nonlethal actions used together complement each other and create dilemmas for opponents. Lethal actions enable the performance of offensive and defensive tasks. However, nonlethal actions also contribute to operations, regardless of which element dominates. Finding ways to accomplish a mission with an appropriate mix of lethal and nonlethal force remains an important consideration for every commander. Commanders analyze situations carefully to balance lethal and nonlethal actions.

2-73. While joint doctrine has three definitions for reserve, the following Army definition applies to Army tactical operations. A reserve is that portion of a body of troops that is withheld from action at the beginning of an engagement to be available for a decisive movement. A reserve is an uncommitted force and thus does not normally have a full suite of combat multipliers available to it until it is committed. It is normally the echelon’s main effort once it is committed. Commanders constitute a reserve and base the size of the reserve on the level of uncertainty in the current tactical situation. Commanders consider survivability and the most likely mission when positioning their reserve. While commanders can assign their reserve a wide variety of tasks to perform on commitment, a reserve remains prepared to accomplish other missions. The primary tasks for a reserve are to—

5-26. The application of the tenets of unified land operations—simultaneity, depth, synchronization, and flexibility—is foundational to the conduct of operations. These four tenets should inform both plans and the conduct of operations. Army forces are most successful when they synchronize and converge effects across the breadth and depth of their assigned AOs within the scope of their mission. Large-scale combat operations require higher echelon headquarters to empower tactical organizations to make decisions and act, and higher echelon headquarters enable lower echelons within their capabilities. As an example, there are national-level space and cyberspace capabilities that can engage specific target sets to support tactical engagements. Commanders and staffs understand, plan for, and request effects available from these national level assets in much the same way they do joint fires. For tactical commands to successfully orche strate the various domains and functions, planners must not assume higher-level effects are beyond their scope. However, such requests must generally be made in advance of combat operations, and the execution and results of such requests may not always be known to the commander on the ground.

5-21. Based on the evaluation of progress, the staff brainstorms possible improvements to the plan and makes preliminary judgments about the relative merit of those changes. Staff members identify those changes possessing sufficient merit and provide them as recommendations to the commander or make adjustments within their delegated authority. Recommendations to the commander range from continuing the operation as planned, to executing a branch, or to making unanticipated adjustments. Making adjustments includes assigning new tasks to subordinates, reprioritizing support, adjusting information collection assets, and significantly modifying the COA. Commanders integrate recommendations from the staff, subordinate commanders, and other partners with their personal assessments. Using those recommendations, they decide if and how to modify the operation to better accomplish the mission.

3-68. Assured mobility is a framework—of processes, actions, and capabilities—that assures the ability of a force to deploy, move, and maneuver where and when desired, to achieve the commander’s intent (ATP 3-90.4). The assured mobility fundamentals of prediction, detection, prevention, avoidance, neutralization, and protection support framing staff planning of subordinate unit tasks and activities. The assured mobility framework enables planners to recommend COAs that achieve the commander’s intent. Assured mobility emphasizes integrated proactive mobility, countermobility, and protection tasks to increase the probability of mission accomplishment.

1-12. Threats preclude to keep something from happening by taking action in advance. Peer threats will preclude a friendly force's ability to shape the OE and mass and sustain combat power. Anti-access (A2) and area denial (AD) are two examples of preclusion activities. The enemies’ integrated air defense systems and integrated fires command is employed using their sensor-to-shooter networks. Threats will conduct A2 activities by employing long-range capabilities to prevent an enemy force from entering an operational area. Threats will conduct AD activities through shorter range actions and capabilities to limit friendly force freedom of action within an operational area to the point that their mission is severely limited or unachievable. The joint force employs fires to defeat A2/AD capabilities to allow entry and building of combat power within the operational area. They may also employ fires to defeat A2/AD activities to allow joint force freedom of action.

1-35. Formal leadership authority is granted to individuals by virtue of assignment to positions of responsibility, according to their rank and experience. The Uniform Code of Military Justice supports military leaders in positions of legitimate authority. Formal leaders exercise their authority over subordinates through lawful orders and directives. An Army leader operates with clear expectations regarding conduct so that indiscipline does not jeopardize mission success. Leaders, through formally assigned authorities and clearly communicated standards, are responsible for ensuring adherence to standards, policies, and codes. Team leaders, squad leaders, platoon leaders, staff officers, commanders, and civilian supervisors are all examples of leaders in positions with formal designations of authority.

4-21. A warfighting function is a group of tasks and systems united by a common purpose that commanders use to accomplish missions and training objectives (ADP 3-0). The Army’s warfighting functions are fundamentally linked to the joint functions. A number of subordinate tasks, missions, and related capabilities help define each function; some apply to more than one function. The warfighting functions are the physical means that tactical commanders use to execute operations and accomplish missions assigned by superior tactical- and operational-level commanders. The purpose of warfighting functions is to provide an intellectual organization for common critical capabilities available to commanders and staffs at all echelons and levels of war. Commanders integrate and synchronize capabilities of one warfighting function with other warfighting functions to achieve objectives and accomplish missions. These grouped and related capabilities and activities help commanders and staffs integrate, synchronize, and direct operations. Commanders and staffs use the warfighting functions to ensure major groupings are accounted for in every operation and to conceptualize and apply capabilities to accomplish the mission through synchronizing forces and warfighting functions in time, space, and purpose. Combined arms operations use the capabilities of each warfighting function, along with leadership and information, in complementary and reinforcing capabilities.

3-47. Airfields supporting strategic air movements for deployment, redeployment, and sustainment are designated aerial ports. Aerial ports are further designated as either an aerial port of embarkation for departing forces and sustainment, or as an APOD for arriving forces and sustainment. Reception at the APOD is coordinated by the senior logistics commander and executed by an Air Force contingency response group/element and an arrival/departure airfield control group. It is an ad hoc organization established to control and support the arrival and departure of personnel, equipment, and sustainment cargo at airfields and must be a lead element when opening an APOD. Elements of a movement control team and an inland cargo transfer company typically operate the arrival/departure airfield control group however; any unit can perform the mission with properly trained personnel and the appropriate equipment.

8-6. The base running estimate addresses information unique to each functional area. It serves as the staff element’s initial assessment of the current readiness of equipment and personnel and of how the factors considered in the running estimate affect the staff’s ability to accomplish the mission. Each staff element identifies functional area friendly and enemy strengths, systems, training, morale, leadership, and weather and terrain effects, and how all these factors impact the operational environment, including the area of operations. Because the running estimate is a picture relative to time, facts, and assumptions, each staff element constantly updates the estimate as new information arises, as assumptions become facts or are invalidated, when the mission changes, or when the commander requires additional input.

1-28. An operation is a sequence of tactical actions with a common purpose of unifying theme (JP 1). Army forces, as part of the joint and multinational force, contribute to the joint mission through the conduct of unified land operations. Unified land operations is the Army's operational concept and contribution to unified action; it is how the Army applies combat power. 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 large-scale ground combat, and consolidate gains as part of unified action (ADP 3-0). The goal of unified land operations is to establish conditions that achieve the joint force commander's end state by applying landpower as part of a unified action to defeat the enemy. Military forces seek to prevent or deter threats through unified action, and, when necessary, execute operations to defeat aggression.

9-144. The war game follows an action-reaction-counteraction cycle. Actions are those events initiated by the side with the initiative. Reactions are the opposing side’s actions in response. With regard to stability tasks, the war game tests the effects of actions, including intended and unintended effects, as they stimulate anticipated responses from civilians and civil institutions. Counteractions are the first side’s responses to reactions. This sequence of action-reaction-counteraction continues until the critical event is completed or until the commander decides to use another COA to accomplish the mission.

5-2. Everything related to the conduct of operations is part of an operational environment, the one category that accounts for all political, military, economic, social, information, infrastructure, physical environment, and time (known as PMESII PT or operational variables) considerations that influence operations and training for operations. These variables need to be captured and continuously updated by analysis in running estimates and understood by the commander and staff even before the assignment of a mission. Operational variables may reside in any of the domains (air, land, maritime, space, and cyberspace). Once a mission is assigned, a commander and staff’s analysis is framed by the mission variables (known as METT-TC), which narrows down the operational variables to those that affect a specific mission.

2-81. Forms of maneuver are distinct tactical combinations of fire and movement with a unique set of doctrinal characteristics that differ primarily in the relationship between the maneuvering force and the enemy. The Army has five forms of maneuver—envelopment, frontal assault, infiltration, penetration, and turning movement. Combined arms organizations accomplish their missions by identifying when and where to execute these forms of maneuver. Commanders generally choose one form on which to build a COA. A higher echelon commander rarely specifies the specific form of maneuver a subordinate executes. However, that higher echelon commander’s intent and guidance, along with the mission and any implied tasks, may impose constraints such as time, security, and direction of attack that narrow the forms of maneuver to one alternative. Additionally, the AO’s characteristics and the enemy force’s dispositions help commanders determine the form of maneuver. A single operation may contain several forms of maneuver. (See FM 3-90-1 for a discussion of these forms of maneuver.)

3-30. During and after engagement of a target, assessment continues with the confirmation of effects created against the target and an initial BDA. The three components of BDA are the physical damage assessment, the functional damage assessment, and the target system assessment. The physical damage assessment is the quantitative extent of physical damage to the target. The functional damage assessment weights the ability of the target to perform its mission against the mission objective established against the target. Target system assessment is a broad assessment of the effectiveness of all types of engagement against a target system. The initial BDA will focus on physical damage assessment while the remaining BDA are developed later. BDA should drive several decisions by the commander, including the need to reattack the target, adjustments to attack guidance to improve effectiveness in the future, and the need to shift to a branch plan if the required effect could not be created.

1-3. Broad trends such as globalization, urbanization, technological advances, and failing states affect land operations. These trends can create instability and contribute to an environment of persistent competition and conflict. Persistent conflict is the protracted confrontation among state, nonstate, and individual actors willing to use violence to achieve political and ideological ends. In such an operational environment, commanders must seek and exploit opportunities for success. To exploit opportunities, commanders must thoroughly understand the dynamic nature of their operational environment. Previous experience within a similar operational environment is not enough to guarantee future mission success in the current one.

3-3. The United States maintains diplomatic relations with more than 180 foreign countries through embassies, consulates, and other diplomatic missions. The ambassador to a country is responsible to the President for directing, coordinating, and supervising official government activities and personnel in that country. These personnel include all U.S. military personnel not assigned to the geographic combatant commander or other designated U.S. military area commander. Protection and security of military personnel are a matter of significant interest. Often, specific agreements are required between the ambassador (also known as the Chief of Mission) and the geographic combatant commander. Special operations forces deployed to a particular country for any reason (exercise, operation, or security assistance) remain under the command and control of the geographic combatant command or a designated subordinate headquarters (normally the theater special operations command—see JP 3-22 for more information). Special operations forces do not operate in a combatant commander’s area of responsibility or in an ambassador’s country of assignment without providing prior notification and receiving permission to do so.

5-80. There are three techniques for conducting a relief: sequentially, simultaneously, or staggered. A sequential relief occurs when each element within the relieved unit is relieved in succession, from right to left or left to right, depending on how the unit is deployed. A simultaneous relief occurs when all elements are relieved at the same time. A staggered relief occurs when a commander relieves each element in a sequence determined by the tactical situation, not its geographic orientation. Simultaneous relief takes the least time to execute, but is more easily detected by the enemy. Sequential or staggered reliefs can take place over a significant amount of time. These three relief techniques can occur regardless of the mission and operational environment (OE) in which the unit is participating.

1-21. Intelligence is inherently joint, interagency, intergovernmental, and multinational; it flows up and down through the echelons to provide the most complete, timely, accurate, and detailed intelligence possible. The Army provides adaptable intelligence capabilities that are dedicated to both joint and Army forces operating as a part of the joint team. This intelligence effort is synchronized, networked, and includes collaboration with unified action partners to achieve unity of effort and to meet the commander's intent. Intelligence unity of effort is critical to accomplish the mission. Multinational and interagency partners provide unique capabilities that reinforce and complement Army intelligence capabilities, as well as invaluable cultural awareness and different perspectives on the operational environment. Using the appropriate procedures, foreign disclosure guidance, and established policy, Army intelligence leaders provide information and intelligence support to multinational forces against an array of threats across multiple domains.

5-19. Executing collection focuses on specific requirements. This collection is accomplished through the execution of tactical missions (such as the primary means of information collection: reconnaissance, surveillance, security operations, and intelligence operations) based on CCIRs and other requirements. Collection activities acquire data and information about threats and relevant aspects of the AO. They provide that information to intelligence PED and analysis elements. Typically, collection activities begin soon after receipt of the mission and continue throughout preparation and execution of operations. They do not cease after the operation concludes but continue as required. This allows the commander to focus combat power, execute current operations, and prepare for future operations simultaneously.