Field Manual (FM) 3-0
A Blueprint for Full-Spectrum Conflict and
Army Modernization
Ben Ennis
FM 3-0 Operations,dated February 2008, gives the U.S. Army’s view of how to conduct and sustained land operations. The manual draws on learned lessons from the last 6 years of combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.”FM 3-0 is the blueprint for an uncertain future,” says GEN William S.Wallace,Commanding General(CG),U.S.Army Training and Doctrine Command.”THE Army must prepare for a full-spectrum conflict—not just major combat operations. Preparation for full-spectrum conflict and organizational change begins with doctrine. FM 33-0 presents doctrine that will become a driver for change in theArmy.”
LTG William B.Caldwell IV, CG,U.S.Army Combined Arms Center, Fort Leavenworth, KS, adds that to understand the size and scope of changes in the doctrine, look back to the Army of per-Sept.11,2001:
The organizational structure was based on the division as the key warfighting element.
Stability operations were considered, but were treated as a symptom of mission creep.
Talk about the peace dividend due to a strategic pause was driving our acquisition process to potentially skip a generation of equipment.
There was still a strong tendency toward risk aversion because of Operation Southern Watch, Bosnia, Beirut, and even, to some extent, Vietnam.
FM 3-0 doctrine continues to advocate Soldiers as the Army’s centerpiece. Army leaders and Soldiers should be given maximum latitude to exercise individual and small-unit initiative. Here, a Soldier from Alpha Co., 2ndBn, 23rdInfantry Regiment, 4th BCT, 2nd Infantry Division(2ID) views a monitor in his Stryker vehicle to check if all is clear before deploying his team in Muqdadiyah, Iraq.
FM 3-0operational concept drives initiative, embraces risk, and focuses on creating opportunities to achieve decisive results. The FM’s operational concept emphasizes leaders and Soldiers seizing, retaining, and exploiting the initiative to achieve decisive results. Here, SGT Amaury Lantigua and SFC john Guy of Heavy Co., 3rd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment. Inspect a vehicle that was destined for use as a car bomb as a Kiowa helicopter provides cover in the Al-Rissala market of Mosul,Iraq.
The commander leverages experience, knowledge, and intuition to play the central role in full-spectrum operations, bridging battle command and operational art. The commander has the central role in full-spectrum operations and must creatively apply battle command and operational art. Here, U.S. Army CPT Edmond Hardy, 1st Armored Div. Commander, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, 4thSquadron, holds an Iraqi child while giving orderon, holds an Iraqi child while giving orders during an aid mission in Baghdad, Iraq.
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