FM 3-0 Preface

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Preface

Army forces are the decisive component of land warfare in joint and multinational operations. Army forces aggressively gain the initiative, build and maintain momentum, and exploit success to control the nature, scope, and tempo of full spectrum operations in war and military operations other than war. Execution of this doctrine requires well-trained soldiers and units fueled with the warrior ethos, the best weapons and equipment available, and the solid leadership of officers and noncommissioned officers of character and competence.

PURPOSE

FM 3-0 establishes the Army’s keystone doctrine for full spectrum operations. The doctrine holds warfighting as the Army’s primary focus and recognizes that the ability of Army forces to dominate land warfare also provides the ability to dominate any situation in military operations other than war. The foundation of FM 3-0 is built upon global strategic responsiveness for prompt, sustained Army force operations on land as a member of a joint or multinational force.

FM 3-0 is compatible with joint doctrine. It provides overarching doctrinal direction for the conduct of full spectrum operations detailed in other Army manuals. As the Army’s principal tool for professional education in the art and the science of war, FM 3-0 presents a stable body of operational doctrine rooted in actual military experience. FM 3-0 provides a foundation for the development of tactics, techniques, and procedures.

SCOPE

FM 3-0 is divided into four parts. Part One (Chapters 1–3) discusses the Army’s role in peace, conflict, and war. Part Two (Chapters 4–6) discusses the fundamentals of full spectrum operations, battle command, and the operations process. Part Three (Chapters 7–10) discusses the four types of Army operations: offensive, defensive, stability, and support. Part Four (Chapters 11 and 12) discusses information superiority and combat service support as enabling operations.

APPLICABILITY

FM 3-0 provides operational guidance for commanders and trainers at all echelons and forms the foundation for curricula within the Army Education System. Its audience is broad, from battalion through corps to other operational-level organizations. Officers and senior noncommissioned officers must read and understand FM 3-0.

ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

The proponent for this manual is Headquarters, US Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC). Send comments and recommendations on DA Form 2028 (Recommended Changes to Publications and Blank Forms) to Commander, US Army Combined Arms Center and Fort Leavenworth, Combined Arms Doctrine Directorate, ATTN: ATZL-SWW, US Army Command and General Staff College, 1 Reynolds Road, Fort Leavenworth, KS 66027-1352.

Unless stated otherwise, masculine nouns or pronouns do not refer exclusively to men.

This publication contains copyrighted material.

Cross-references use the new field manual numbering system. The bibliography lists field manuals by new number followed by old number.

The glossary lists most terms used in FM 3-0 that have joint or Army definitions. Terms for which FM 3-0 is the proponent manual (the authority) are indicated with an asterisk. The glossary does not contain these definitions, but lists the numbers of paragraphs where terms are defined. Definitions for which FM 3-0 is the proponent manual are printed in boldface in the text. Other definitions are not printed in boldface. Partial definitions of some terms for which FM 3-0 is not the proponent manual are provided in text boxes. See JP 1-02 for complete joint definitions and FM 1-02 for complete Army definitions.

The glossary contains referents of acronyms and definitions of terms not defined in JP 1-02 and FM 1-02. It does not list acronyms and abbreviations that are included for clarity only and appear one time, nor those that appear only in a figure and are listed in the legend for that figure. Some common abbreviations and acronyms—for example, the abbreviations for military ranks and publications—are not spelled out; refer to the glossary. Since ARFOR is a defined term as well as an acronym, it is not spelled out.

Some figures show engagement areas and objectives without names. These control measures are normally given names (see FM 1-02).

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The copyright owners listed here have granted permission to reproduce material from their works. Other sources of quotations and material used in examples are listed in the Source Notes.

Excerpts from Dwight D. Eisenhower, The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, vol. 3, The War Years, edited by Alfred D. Chandler Jr. © The Johns Hopkins Press, 1970.

Excerpts from The Civil War, A Narrative, vol. 3, Red River to Appomattox, by Shelby Foote, © Random House, Incorporated, 1974.

Excerpts from We Were Soldiers Once…and Young, by Harold G. Moore and Joseph L. Galloway, © LTG H. G. Moore and Joseph L. Galloway, Random House, Incorporated, 1992.

Excerpts from War as I Knew It by General George S. Patton. Copyright © 1947 by Beatrice Patton Walters, Ruth Patton Totten, and George Smith Totten. Copyright © renewed 1975 by Major General George Patton, Ruth Patton Totten, John K. Waters Jr., and George P. Waters. Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Co. All rights reserved.

Excerpt from Supplying War: Logistics From Wallenstein to Patton by Martin Van Creveld, © Cambridge University Press, 1977.

This publication is available on the Reimer Digital Library (ADTDL) at http://155.217.58.58.