Operations During Crisis PDF

Chapter 5 Operations During Crisis The 1930’s taught us a clear lesson: aggressive conduct, if allowed to go unchecked and unchallenged ultimately leads to war. Presi...

Chapter 5 Operations During Crisis The 1930’s taught us a clear lesson: aggressive conduct, if allowed to go unchecked and unchallenged ultimately leads to war. President John F. Kennedy This chapter begins with a discussion of the broad trends that occur in the strategic environment and adversary actions during crisis. It discusses how Army forces provide options to joint force commanders (JFCs) seeking to obtain relative advantages during crisis, and how the Army projects forces. It then describes the roles of theater armies, corps, divisions, and brigades. The chapter concludes with a discussion of consolidating gains and transitioning back to competition or to armed conflict. OVERVIEW OF OPERATIONS DURING CRISIS 5-1. A crisis is an incident or situation involving a threat to the United States, its citizens, military forces, or vital interests that develops rapidly and creates a condition of such diplomatic, economic, or military importance that commitment of military forces and resources is contemplated to achieve national objectives (JP 3-0). A crisis may be the result of adversary actions or indicators of imminent action, or it may be the result of natural or human disasters. During a crisis, opponents are not yet using lethal force as the primary means for achieving their objectives, but the situation potentially requires a rapid response by forces prepared to fight to deter further aggression. When directed, the Army provides a JFC with capabilities to help deter further provocation and sufficient combat power to maintain or reestablish conventional deterrence. The introduction of significant land forces demonstrates the will to impose costs, provides options to joint force and national leaders, and signals a high level of national commitment. The effects of a persistent presence on the ground among allied or partner forces cannot be easily replicated with air or maritime power alone. 5-2. Crisis response operations are characterized by high degrees of volatility and uncertainty. A crisis may erupt with Success during a crisis is a return to a no warning, or it may be well anticipated. Its duration is state of competition in which the unpredictable. Additionally, adversaries may perceive United States, its allies, and its partners are in positions of increased themselves in a different context or state of conflict than U.S., advantage relative to the adversary. allied, and partner forces. What is seen by one side as a crisis Should deterrence fail, Army forces might be perceived by the other as armed conflict or are better positioned to defeat enemy competition. Army leaders must demonstrate flexibility, forces during conflict. anticipate changes in an operational environment, and provide JFCs with credible, effective options. This requires trained forces agile enough to adapt quickly to new situations and commanders and staffs adept at linking tactical actions to attaining policy objectives. 5-3. Regardless of the capabilities employed, there are generally two broad outcomes from a crisis. Either deterrence is maintained, and de-escalation occurs, or armed conflict begins. While this requires that Army forces be prepared for either type of transition, forces deploying during crisis always assume they are deploying to fight. While Army forces prepare for armed conflict, they avoid sending signals that armed conflict is inevitable, regardless of what the adversary does, to avoid inadvertent escalation. Generally, senior leaders at the corps and higher echelons influence those perceptions through public communications in support of the JFC and national leaders. 01 October 2022 FM 3-0 5-1 Chapter 5 Note. Army forces also respond to crises related to disaster response, humanitarian assistance, and defense support to civil authorities when tasked. These crisis contexts and response options are covered in separate doctrinal publications. See JP 3-28, JP 3-29, ADP 3-07, ADP 3-28, FM 3-07, and ATP 3-57.20 for more information on these types of crises and associated response options. ADVERSARY METHODS DURING CRISIS 5-4. A crisis is frequently caused by an adversary acting aggressively to coerce and intimidate its opponents with the threat of force. Once an adversary crosses a U.S., allied, or partner crisis threshold, it attempts to shape and control the crisis to limit or prevent a U.S. military response. An adversary’s attempts to control the situation involves escalating or de-escalating its activities based on an assessment of the situation, which includes a calculation of risk. Adversary forces conduct a detailed analysis of their available capabilities, capacity, and operational reach within a theater relative to friendly forces; their overall desired end state; and their willingness to achieve that end state before deciding to escalate. Even after careful analysis, the way a situation develops can be unpredictable. Some peer adversaries view conflict as a continuous condition in which heightened or reduced periods of violence occur and recur. Changing the intensity of their actions, even when that reduces tension, does not end their campaign to oppose U.S. interests. ADVERSARY ACTIVITIES TO SHAPE A CRISIS 5-5. As a crisis develops, peer adversaries will attempt to shape the situation to their benefit through information warfare and preclusion focused on the U.S. joint force. They may use diplomatic, economic, and information means to divide an opponent’s political leadership from its civilian population. They create separation by introducing or exacerbating distrust and division between different groups to weaken an opponent’s political leadership and to create dissatisfaction among an opponent’s civilian population. Adversaries position military forces in ways to increase uncertainty for opponents and to complicate their decision making. These activities create conditions for the adversary to exploit situations with minimal interference from the U.S., allied, or partner military forces. 5-6. Adversaries may use proxy forces to conduct information warfare, unconventional warfare, and criminal activities, although the balance and utility of these forces in crisis differs from their use during competition. Proxy forces, whether they are a militant separatist group, private military company, or criminal network, bring different capabilities to a situation, and the employment of their capabilities shifts as the strategic context changes. For example, while criminal networks can still accomplish useful tasks in environments marked by increased levels of violence, they do not have the same level of utility that they did during competition. Similarly, separatist groups cannot typically operate without significant support from their sponsor’s military or security services, and that support is likely to be focused elsewhere at the beginning of a crisis. Despite their limitations, proxy forces provide adversaries with another tool to shape a crisis situation. ACTIVITIES TO CONTROL ESCALATION 5-7. Peer adversaries may attempt to control the escalation of a crisis to avoid armed conflict with the United States by initiating actions to prevent or counter a U.S. response. These actions may focus on allies or partners using diplomatic, information, military, and economic instruments. Adversary measures include setting fait accompli conditions on the ground designed to make military responses either too expensive to employ or too late to affect the political situation. An adversary also has other options to control escalation, which include accelerating its operational timelines, employing information warfare, increasing support to proxy forces, and increasing the number of forward deployed units in the region. Adversary forces may also initiate crises in other theaters to distract U.S. forces and diffuse their response in the area of greatest interest. In extreme cases, an adversary may conduct a limited attack in response to U.S. reactions to the activities that precipitated the original crisis. 5-2 FM 3-0 01 October 2022  Operations During Crisis ACTIVITIES TO MITIGATE UNITED STATES DETERRENCE 5-8. As adversary forces plan for operations during a crisis, they consider several key actions to mitigate U.S. deterrence efforts and to ensure these operations do not interfere significantly with their interests. These actions may include— z Conducting limited attacks to expose friendly force vulnerabilities. These attacks may also degrade the deterrence value of deployed forces and destroy credibility among current and potential partners. z Disrupting or delaying the deployment of Army and joint forces through cyberspace attacks and denial of space capabilities. z Exploiting gaps in national interests among the United States, partner nations, and potential partners by attacking weaker countries with whom the United States has no treaty obligations to defend. z Conducting deception operations to conceal their real intent. z Increasing the use of proxy forces to coopt, coerce, or influence the local population, organizations, and governments within a crisis region. z Creating multiple dilemmas for the United States by attacking or threatening the use of force against potential partner nations in regions outside of the crisis region. z Impacting the will of the public through information warfare, including cyberspace attacks. z Threatening the use of nuclear weapons to prevent intervention by the United States, allies, and partners. OPERATIONS SECURITY 5-9. Operations security is vital to the success of operations The protection of friendly forces during crisis. Continuously employing the operations security requires an understanding of threat process generates measures and countermeasures to limit an reconnaissance and surveillance, adversary’s ability to discern friendly intent, knowing that capabilities in an operational friendly forces are always under observation and at risk of environment. Protection is an outcome detection. Operations security is a function of how tasks and based in large part on how operations activities are conducted and how individual Soldiers and units are conducted at the individual and are successful in meeting the directed standards. Army units in unit level. No single system or a joint operations area (JOA) exercise strict operations security capability can protect a formation on its own. to protect friendly information and protect the network against cyberspace attacks. They do this by ensuring no use of personal electronic devices, minimizing electromagnetic emissions, and limiting communications on command and control (C2) information systems to the maximum possible extent. This protects Soldiers from social media and other information-related attacks and limits the information available to adversaries that can be used to target family members. It also makes it more difficult for adversaries to identify units and their locations and reduces the incentive for adversary forces to strike targets they view as lucrative enough to risk conflict to destroy. Stress caused by adversary social media attacks during crisis is potentially circumvented by avoiding social media altogether, since the combined effects of a disinformation campaign could degrade Soldier performance and morale far more than not having access to personal devices and media accounts. Operations security is a continuous activity at every echelon down to the individual Soldier level. RELATIVE ADVANTAGES 5-10. During crisis, Army forces capitalize on the knowledge and experiences gained and use the systems, processes, and infrastructure developed while setting the theater to respond to adversary aggressions or threats. While this preparation and experience provide Army forces, allies, and other coalition forces with a good starting point in mature theaters, the transition into crisis will most likely be chaotic, and it will present Army leaders with unforeseen challenges that require rapid response. Army forces therefore build upon the information, human, and physical advantages gained during competition to mitigate friction, deter adversaries, and when necessary, transition into armed conflict. 01 October 2022 FM 3-0 5-3 Chapter 5 PHYSICAL ADVANTAGES DURING CRISIS 5-11. Achieving physical advantage during crisis consists of working with host-nation forces to form a credible defense and ensuring the survivability of allied forces in theater. If there is key or decisive terrain, Army forces and host-nation partners may seek to deter adversaries by setting a defense of that ground early in a crisis. Army forces in theater assume conflict is imminent and take all available measures to protect against attack in every domain where an attack could occur. 5-12. During crisis, Army combat power will likely be limited initially to a small number of forward- stationed forces, those forces that can draw Army pre-positioned stocks (APS) rapidly, and forces used to threaten adversary forces with forcible entry into their area of operations (AO). This combat power will most likely be used in a defensive posture until the JFC receives enough land forces to make offensive operations feasible. The intent should be to increase the combat power of Army forces to a point where they can credibly threaten adversary forces with offensive operations. Ideally, this will deter further enemy action. If, however, deterrence fails, this force facilitates armed conflict that will terminate on terms favorable to U.S. interests. In well-developed theaters, Army combat power will likely be forward stationed and integrated with partner forces as a key part of their defensive plans. This credible land force, capable of disrupting or significantly degrading an adversary’s initial attack, maximizes the deterrent potential of Army forces. INFORMATION ADVANTAGES DURING CRISIS 5-13. Two key information activities are protecting friendly information and degrading the threat’s ability to communicate, sense, make effective decisions, and maintain influence with relevant actors and populations. An example is the use of strategic messaging to undermine the credibility of an adversary by exposing violations of international law and showing that adversary narratives are false. Achieving information advantages is a commander-driven, combined arms activity that employs capabilities from every warfighting function. During crisis, commanders lead their staffs to refine information activities based upon plans and processes developed during competition. Examples include commanders and staffs focusing on the challenges and tasks of establishing a mission-partner environment, building or modifying an intelligence architecture, and creating or refining common operating procedures with allies and other partners. HUMAN ADVANTAGES DURING CRISIS 5-14. While enduring relationships with alliance and coalition partners may be in place at the theater strategic level as a crisis develops, at the operational and tactical levels it is likely that units have less experience operating with one another. Forces deploying into a theater may have experience working with the security forces of partner nations if they were regionally aligned or worked together in a professional military education or training setting, but most will not have such experience. This requires leaders who have worked with joint and multinational partners to focus their staffs on the most critical interoperability tasks necessary for effective coalition operations. It also requires awareness of the difficulty in fully understanding situations when dealing with other cultures. Employing the liaison networks built by the theater army during competition will enable simultaneous in-theater training exercises with the deployment of Army forces. This facilitates early shared understanding, helping leaders and subordinate units integrate with allied and partner forces in the most expeditious and efficient manner possible while also signaling determination to adversaries. Demonstrated readiness for combat operations and interoperability among U.S., allied, and partner forces helps to upset adversary risk calculations and deter further aggression. ARMY SUPPORT TO THE JOINT FORCE DURING CRISIS 5-15. The military supports unified action partners during crisis by providing flexible deterrent and response options. A flexible deterrent option (FDO) is a planning construct intended to facilitate early decision making by developing a wide range of interrelated responses that begin with deterrent-oriented actions carefully tailored to create a desired effect. A flexible response option (FRO) is a military capability specifically task- organized for effective reaction to an enemy threat or attack and adaptable to the existing circumstances of a crisis. FDOs and FROs occur across the diplomatic, informational, military, and economic (known as DIME) instruments of national power, and they are not just confined to the military. They are most effective when integrated and implemented in a nearly simultaneous manner. Examples of simultaneous FDO and FRO 5-4 FM 3-0 01 October 2022  Operations During Crisis actions are shown in figure 5-1. (See JP 5-0 for additional examples of diplomatic, economic, information, and joint force FDOs and FROs.) Figure 5-1. Simultaneous flexible deterrent and response option examples 5-16. Determining what threat and enemy forces perceive as important will inform U.S. understanding of their desired end state, associated courses of action, and employment of forces. This allows strategic leaders to determine the appropriate amount of military force to apply in concert with diplomatic, information, and economic activities to prevent adversaries from achieving their objectives. Examples of Army contributions that can deploy rapidly to support joint flexible deterrent and response options are contained in table 5-1 on page 5-6. 01 October 2022 FM 3-0 5-5 Chapter 5 Table 5-1. Potential Army contributions to joint flexible deterrent and response options Army contribution examples to joint flexible deterrent options Command and control headquarters—establishment of a field army or deployment of a corps or division. Air defense to protect key infrastructure and population centers from theater ballistic missiles. Additional personnel to expand the capability of theater-assigned headquarters. Intelligence assets to support situational understanding, targeting, and information activities. Deploying a security force assistance brigade to establish liaison capability or conduct security force assistance. Building or expanding infrastructure and increasing sustainment capacity to facilitate reception, staging, onward movement, and integration. Army contribution examples to joint flexible response options Airborne or air assault units positioned to conduct joint forcible entry. A brigade combat team drawing Army pre-positioned stocks. Port opening to receive the joint force. Multi-domain task force to respond to adversary antiaccess and area denial activities. Special operations forces to conduct foreign internal defense, direct action, or special reconnaissance. Civil affairs to enable civil-military operations and interorganizational cooperation. Chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear units for response to weapons of mass destruction employment. 5-17. While FDOs are primarily intended to prevent a crisis from developing or worsening, FROs are designed to preempt or respond to attacks against U.S. interests. FDOs are preplanned, deterrence-oriented actions carefully tailored to bring an issue to early resolution without armed conflict, and they can be initiated before or after unambiguous warning of threat action. In comparison, FROs can be employed in response to aggression by adversaries, and they are intended to facilitate early decision making by developing a wide range of actions carefully tailored to produce desired effects. FDOs and FROs must be deliberately tailored in terms of timing, efficiency, and effectiveness to avoid undesired effects, such as eliciting an armed response should adversary leaders perceive that friendly FDOs or FROs are being used as preparation for a preemptive attack. 5-18. FDOs and FROs serve three basic purposes. First, they provide a visible and credible message to adversaries about U.S. will and capability to resist aggression. Second, they position U.S. forces in a manner that facilitates implementation of the operations or contingency plan should armed conflict occur. Third, they provide options for joint and national senior leaders. They allow for measured increases in pressure to avoid unintentionally provoking combat operations, and they enable decision makers to develop the situation to gain a better understanding of adversary capabilities and intentions. FDOs and FROs are elements of contingency plans executed to increase deterrence in addition to, but outside the scope of, the ongoing joint operations. The key goals of FDOs and FROs are— z Communicate the strength of U.S. commitment to treaty obligations and regional peace and stability. z Confront adversaries with unacceptable costs for their possible aggression. z Isolate adversaries from regional neighbors and attempt to split adversary coalitions. z Rapidly improve the military balance of power in the theater of operations without precipitating an armed response from adversaries. z Develop the situation and better understand adversary capabilities and intentions. 5-19. Leaders exercise restraint and carefully calculate risk before recommending an increase in Army forces to address a crisis. Peer adversaries have global capabilities, and they can create multiple dilemmas for U.S. forces by escalating a crisis horizontally in a different theater. Surging forces in one region may address a crisis, but it potentially creates opportunities for adversaries or enemies in another region. Leaders must anticipate second- and third-order effects on other combatant commands and the risk to the homeland when 5-6 FM 3-0 01 October 2022  Operations During Crisis forces are committed to address a specific crisis. An example of an effective response operation occurred in Korea in 1976. Effective Response: OPERATION PAUL BUNYAN On 18 August 1976, a North Korean platoon-sized force attacked a small element of U.S. and South Korean Army forces conducting a routine tree trimming detail in the Joint Security Area, a location set aside for military talks and jointly secured by forces from both the U.S.-led United Nations Command and North Korea. The North Koreans murdered two U.S. officers and wounded five South Korean soldiers, escalating the already tense security arrangement. Leaders assessed that the act was an attempt to dissuade American support for the U.S. military presence in South Korea. U.S. leaders considered multiple response options. Although some advocated for a swift and lethal response, the U.S.-led alliance implemented a course of action designed to avoid escalation but demonstrate allied cohesion and resolve. Three days after the attack, dozens of U.S. and South Korean forces reoccupied the same site where the unprovoked attack occurred and cut down the tree. As a show of force and coalition readiness, hundreds of U.S. and South Korean soldiers provided overwatch for the work detail. Army forces also deployed attack helicopters and prepared artillery for use if necessary. This show of force was part of a larger joint response option. President Ford ordered U.S. forces to Defense Condition Three, deployed strategic bombers, and deployed a U.S. aircraft carrier. The operation de-escalated the situation while bringing attention to North Korea’s malign activity, further isolating North Korea from the international community. The operation compelled the North Koreans to admit they regretted the incident, and they agreed to separate forces in the joint security area. The response resolved the incident with stronger international support for the United Nations’ mission and a stronger bond between U.S. and South Korean forces. FORCE PROJECTION 5-20. The demonstrated ability to project Army forces into an operational area is an essential element of conventional deterrence. Army forces depend almost entirely upon joint lift capabilities for deployment. Force projection is the ability to project the military instrument of national power from the United States, or another theater in response to requirements for military operations (JP 3-0). 5-21. During a crisis, ground forces provide a JFC with more enduring options than forces primarily concentrated in or transiting other domains. Army forces are capable of occupying ground indefinitely. They must be sustained just like other Services, but the Army’s ability to maintain persistent presence is far greater because of the nature of operations on land. The potentially close physical proximity of ground forces to adversary forces provides the JFC with greater understanding and can help the JFC dictate the tempo of operations. 5-22. Army forces achieve persistent presence by deploying forces into a theater to support forward-stationed U.S. forces, or those of allies or partners. These forces are likely already executing operations directed in response to provocations, indications, or warnings that hostile activities may commence. At the direction of the JFC, Army forces execute tasks, activities, and operations designed to deter further malign activity and set conditions for success should deterrence fail. The forward presence or projection of Army formations into a theater provides capabilities that create tactical and operational dilemmas for threat forces, enabling the JFC to seize and retain the initiative. Prompt deployment of land forces in the initial phase of a crisis can 01 October 2022 FM 3-0 5-7 Chapter 5 preclude the need to deploy larger forces later, and it assures allies and other partners. Effective early intervention can also deny adversaries the time necessary for them to set conditions in their favor. 5-23. Deployment alone does not guarantee success. Achieving successful deterrence involves convincing adversaries that the deployed force is able to markedly reduce the adversary force’s chance of success during armed conflict. Adversaries measure the ability of Army forces to conduct operations during armed conflict through careful observation of how well those forces are prepared to conduct large-scale combat operations and the capabilities those forces introduce into a specific context as part of the overall joint response. 5-24. As Army forces prepare to respond to a crisis, the JFC conducts a final review of deploying forces, ensuring they are deployed in the proper sequence and are able to be task-organized effectively for the anticipated mission. Threat forces are likely to detect force projection activities using space and cyberspace capabilities, human intelligence, and open-source collection efforts. Planners should anticipate adversary forces using all available means to contest the deployment of forces, beginning from home station, during transit, and upon arrival in theater. Therefore, operations security, dispersion of forces, deception operations, and physical security are critical planning considerations. Senior commanders and planners must understand the risks and shape deployments to satisfy both speed and operational readiness. (See Chapter 3 for more information on force tailoring and Appendix C for further discussion on contested deployments.) 5-25. Force projection is particularly important during crisis, as Army forces have an unknown amount of time to shape a developing situation. It can occur, however, in any context. Forces projected forward during competition to conduct exercises, bolster allies and partners, and conduct other activities are under observation. Adversaries assess the speed and efficiency of these routine deployments, which can have a deterrent effect. Given the fluid nature of a crisis, force projection may continue well after a crisis has transitioned to armed conflict. Sound force projection planning encompasses— z Opening the theater. z Mobilization. z Deployment. z Protection during transit. z Reception, staging, onward movement, and integration (RSOI). z Initial employment of forces. z Sustainment. z Redeployment. OPENING THE THEATER 5-26. During the transition to crisis or armed conflict, Army forces open the theater to receive deploying forces. Army forces execute existing plans to establish and open air, sea, and rail terminals. Distribution systems and intermediate staging bases may be established where required. Higher echelon (including theater, corps, and division enablers) and rapidly deployable C2 elements begin to integrate with host-nation forces as quickly as possible to set the conditions for RSOI of follow-on tactical forces. This includes coordination with the forces of other supporting nations to assure effective distribution of services, facilities, and supplies to all deploying units across the alliance or coalition. During theater opening, designated arriving forces draw available APS. This provides the JFC with increased capacity and capability during the initial stages of a crisis or armed conflict. Army forces must be prepared for combat while conducting theater opening operations. The first deploying units require the capability to defend themselves while they provide reaction time and maneuver space for follow-on forces. MOBILIZATION 5-27. Mobilization is the process by which the Armed Forces of the United States, or part of them, are brought to a state of readiness for war or other national emergency (JP 4-05). During mobilization, the Army focuses its efforts on filling joint manning documents to augment combined and joint task force (JTF) headquarters, land component headquarters, and Army units designated for deployment. During crisis, strategic leaders may decide to mobilize select portions of the U.S. Army National Guard and U.S. Army Reserve to provide key capabilities to JFCs. During armed conflict, it is likely that strategic leaders will 5-8 FM 3-0 01 October 2022  Operations During Crisis remove some or all mobilization limitations, enhancing the Army’s ability to respond to an aggressive act by an enemy with the necessary capabilities. An example of a limitation that is lifted for armed conflict would be ordering a full mobilization of the Army National Guard or Army Reserve in lieu of a selected reserve call up or partial mobilization. 5-28. Despite the rapid response and expeditionary capabilities of the joint force, no amount of expeditionary capability can overcome the challenges posed by physical distance. Most Army forces tasked to respond to a crisis have a delay between notification and the time they assemble at the location from which to deploy. For active-duty formations this time period is generally days or weeks, and for Army National Guard or Army Reserve forces this time period is generally weeks to months. The mobilization process takes longer for units with large amounts of equipment and personnel. 5-29. Some units are directed to maintain higher levels of readiness or maintain a prepared-to-deploy status. This higher state of readiness primarily includes units in the immediate response force. The immediate response force provides the Army with the ability to provide combatant commanders (CCDRs) with land capabilities of limited capacity to rapidly respond to a crisis. 5-30. For most Army forces, mobilization operations begin at home station. As a general rule, once mobilized, it takes at least 30 to 45 days for most Army forces stationed within the United States to deploy to a theater when their equipment is shipped via strategic sealift. This planning timeline is the same whether the United States is involved in a crisis or armed conflict due to the fixed speed of moving Army equipment over civilian transportation infrastructure. However, if a threat force inflicts significant damage across the strategic support area during armed conflict, these timelines may be further extended. This timeframe does not include RSOI upon arrival overseas. Additional time may also be required if the joint force is not able to provide sufficient capacity to protect land, sea, and air lines of communications or sufficient sea and airlift is not available for simultaneous movement of multiple large units. (See Appendix C for more information on deployments contested by threat forces.) DEPLOYMENT 5-31. Deployment is the movement of forces into and out of an operational area (JP 3-35). Proper planning establishes what, where, and when forces are needed to achieve objectives. How the JFC intends to employ forces is the foundation of the deployment structure and timing. For example, a JFC may deploy a combat- ready brigade combat team (BCT) or division early in a crisis to stabilize a situation or secure ports for follow-on forces, accepting risks to the movement efficiency of follow-on forces. Corps and division staffs examine all deployment possibilities and conduct parallel planning. 5-32. Most Army equipment travels via strategic sealift. It will take weeks or months for the equipment to arrive in theater. Commanders and planners must not underestimate the joint deployment challenges of operating against peer adversary forces with robust air, maritime, space, and cyberspace capabilities. Commanders and planners must envision what they want the force to look like upon arrival in theater and then backwards plan with the assumption that some of it may not arrive as planned or even at all. The objective of deployment planning is to synchronize deployment activities to facilitate effective execution of operations in an operational area. Successful deployment planning requires knowledge of a unit’s deployment responsibilities, an understanding of deployment, and an appreciation of the link between deployment and employment. (See ATP 3-35 for a discussion of these deployment phases and planning in detail.) The steps used in deployment planning are— z Analyze the mission. z Structure forces. z Refine deployment data. z Prepare the force. z Schedule movement. An example of deployment friction and unit actions to overcome it occurred in 2003. 01 October 2022 FM 3-0 5-9 Chapter 5 Deployment Friction: Task Force Ironhorse in OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM In 2003, Task Force Ironhorse initially shipped its unit equipment sets to Turkey as called for in the initial invasion operations order. However, the equipment sets had to be rerouted through the Suez Canal and Kuwait after Turkey did not allow the use of its territory for the invasion of Iraq. The task force concept of operations called for tailored force packages that would allow rapid employment upon arrival in Turkey. However, tailoring the force packages precluded the ability of U.S. Transportation Command to maximize the available square footage of strategic sealift ships. This degraded the ability of the JFC to receive additional assets. Additionally, the refusal of Turkey forced the task force commander, Major General Odierno, to rapidly develop new courses of action for forces tailored for an operation that was no longer feasible. Though friction occurred due to the extreme change in conditions, the unit adapted. It did this while constantly interfacing with organizations at the strategic and theater strategic levels. Major General Odierno also ensured that all leaders of his task force were integrated into the plan as it changed. As a result of these efforts, Task Force Ironhorse had personnel staged in Kuwait, prepared for the new conditions facing them when their equipment finally arrived in Kuwait. PROTECTION DURING TRANSIT 5-33. The U.S. Army Installation Management Command is a critical protection enabler during unit predeployment activities through the fort-to-port movement of Army forces. This command manages most Army installations, and garrison commanders ensure the protection of forces as they deploy. Installation provost marshals protect deploying unit assets as they prepare to deploy with police and security guards. In addition, installation safety, medical, and information management personnel protect the force during deployment preparation and execution. Corps and division staffs coordinate closely with installation staffs to identify information and assets that need protection, and they apply appropriate protection and security measures consistent with their collective threat analysis. 5-34. Threats may attempt to impede or prevent unit deployments. This creates a requirement for coordination of the physical security of deploying unit personnel and equipment as they move to ports of embarkation. Physical security is required for personnel and equipment while awaiting transport at ports of embarkation, during movement, and after arrival at ports of debarkation. Planning for physical security remains a focus in unit staging areas, along routes upon which units and supplies move, and for tactical assembly areas prior to onward movement into AOs. 5-35. U.S. Transportation Command and the Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command administer a defense transportation security program to provide standardized transportation security measures and procedures, constant oversight, and central direction in coordination with other Department of Defense (DOD) activities and port authorities. Commanders plan for protection measures for their units and equipment from home station to the port of embarkation, while Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command coordinates for security within the port. 5-36. Corps and division staffs ensure that all contract processes for transportation movements meet DOD security requirements. They coordinate with the installation transportation officer in the continental United States at home station or the movement control team outside the continental United States and authorized railroad or commercial truck carriers on guard and escort matters. Some government and commercial carriers provide limited security measures to protect in-transit equipment and supplies. These measures include the use of contract security personnel and secure transfer facilities to safeguard unit assets. 5-37. If the corps or division staff determines that carrier security measures are insufficient given the threat, corps and division headquarters have a number of options for increasing the protection and security of deploying units and their associated equipment and supplies. These options include directing subordinate 5-10 FM 3-0 01 October 2022  Operations During Crisis units to provide Soldiers to guard equipment and supplies throughout the deployment process. Commanders can also direct units to have Soldiers carry certain sensitive items as part of their individual loads throughout the deployment process. 5-38. Corps and division commanders submit protection plans before their arrival overseas through the respective ARFOR or the theater army headquarters to the CCDR responsible for all military forces in the AOR within which deploying forces will operate. These plans should align with the guidance developed by the CCDR, who coordinates and approves various deploying unit protection plans. RECEPTION, STAGING, ONWARD MOVEMENT, AND INTEGRATION 5-39. RSOI is the process that delivers combat power to the JFC in a theater of operations or a JOA. RSOI is the responsibility of the theater army and its associated theater sustainment command (TSC). During crises involving a peer adversary, RSOI must occur rapidly in as many dispersed locations as possible to complicate adversary targeting. It is a theater-level process, with careful coordination required between units, theater sustainment personnel, host-nation support, and commercial entities. Effective RSOI matches personnel with their equipment, minimizes staging and sustainment requirements while transiting these ports of debarkation, and begins onward movement as quickly as possible. Deploying units need to understand and implement previously developed plans to accomplish integration and maintain combat readiness upon their arrival. (See JP 3-35 and ATP 3-35 for a discussion of factors and considerations associated with the conduct of RSOI.) Reception 5-40. Reception is the process of receiving, offloading, marshalling, accounting for, and transporting of personnel, equipment, and materiel from the strategic and/or intratheater deployment phase to a sea, air, or surface transportation point of debarkation to the marshalling area (JP 3-35). As the initial step of introducing combat power on the ground, reception determines success or failure of the RSOI operation. Efficiency imparts speed, which requires well-understood plans flexible enough to overcome friction. 5-41. The theater army or a designated sustainment unit (typically the assigned TSC) implements reception from strategic lift activities at or near designated air and seaports of debarkation. While the reception plan for each theater varies, reception capacity should at least equal planned strategic lift delivery capability. At a minimum, the theater army considers the impact of joint C2, movement control, and port operations while planning. Additionally, commanders and their staffs consider dispersion, air and missile defense (AMD), and other security measures when planning and conducting reception operations based on the vulnerability to enemy special-purpose forces and long-range fires. Staging 5-42. Staging is assembling, holding, and organizing arriving personnel, equipment, and sustaining materiel in preparation for onward movement (JP 3-35). Staging is the part of the RSOI operation that unites unit personnel with their equipment and prepares them for onward movement and employment by the JFC. During staging, deploying forces have limited mission capability and are generally not self-sustainable. Most units require extensive maintenance, supply, protection, and life support while staging. In some cases, their equipment must be reconfigured following transport on ships or aircraft. Onward Movement 5-43. Onward movement is the process of moving forces and sustainment from reception facilities and marshalling or staging areas to tactical assembly areas or other operating areas. Many external factors influence onward movement. They include the availability of transportation assets and the requirements of their future higher echelon headquarters. These factors determine the sequence in which units move from their staging areas onward to their respective AOs. Plans for the movement of a corps or division headquarters and its attached and supporting divisions or brigades into an AO maintain a balance between security and flexibility. 5-44. Corps and division commanders rely heavily on their staffs and integrating cells to finish coordinating their movement plans to their projected AOs with all necessary military and civilian agencies. The logistics distribution network may be operated by the U.S. military, the host nation, or by a combination of military 01 October 2022 FM 3-0 5-11 Chapter 5 and civilian agencies. The appropriate staff cells and elements consider the number of suitable routes and lift assets available to meet the movement requirements of subordinate units. Other considerations include— z Construction of routes. z Road and route improvement and maintenance. z Repair of bridges and culverts. z Clearance of obstacles, including explosive hazards. z Bridging rivers or dry gaps. z Establishment of security along routes. z Placement of convoy support centers. z Traffic control to permit freedom of or restriction of civilian movement along routes. z Communications architecture. z Requirements of allies and other partners moving at the same time as U.S. forces. Integration of Forces 5-45. In the context of RSOI, integration is the coordinated transfer of units into an operational commander’s force prior to mission execution. It can start as soon as the JFC and the new unit are aware of the mission. The JFC may provide initial and periodic situational updates to the inbound unit throughout the force projection process. The JFC may have training requirements for the deploying unit that it must accomplish before and upon arrival in the theater. Integration occurs across all warfighting functions. Generally, the more time a unit has to integrate before conducting operations, the better the unit will perform. However, the situation may require rapid integration. Therefore, commanders balance the risks to mission and force when determining the tempo of unit integration. 5-46. When a deploying unit replaces another unit, a relief in place occurs during integration. During crisis integration of deploying forces will probably involve augmentation of U.S. and host-nation forces already in position, and not require a relief in place, although establishing liaison with units on the flanks is required. Regardless of the circumstance, the command of combat-ready units is transferred to the receiving commander during integration. Integration is complete when the CCDR, other JFC, or land component commander establishes positive control over arriving units. This usually occurs in forward assembly areas when those units are capable of performing missions. 5-47. If the deploying division or brigade is the first U.S. force into a JOA, there may be a need to deploy an advance party task-organized with security, protection, logistics, and engineering support capabilities. As part of the unit movement preparations, the advance party is resourced from the division, brigade, attached assets, or it is provided by outside units. This is particularly true if the predeployment site survey determines that the AO does not have sufficient infrastructure to support division or brigade operations. Changes in the number of available forces as deployment proceeds will also increase the number of units present and change disposition of units and the dimensions of AOs. In circumstances demanding more experienced leadership, it may be necessary for the deputy commander and a select staff to lead this advance party. They set the groundwork for the rest of the unit by performing face-to-face coordination with local military or civilian leaders. 5-48. Unit deployment operations end when all deploying elements complete their RSOI within the assigned JOA. The specifics of RSOI reflect the specific circumstances of the operational and mission variables prevailing in that JOA. (See JP 3-35 for information on joint RSOI requirements.) INITIAL EMPLOYMENT OF FORCES 5-49. The initial employment of Army forces during a crisis will most likely be as part of FDOs or FROs. This employment may represent the opening stages of a joint operation or a show of force demonstration. The objective of this early employment is to deter an adversary from further aggression, expand the theater to receive follow-on Army and joint forces, and form a credible defense with host-nation forces to prevent adversary gains. Without a robust theater infrastructure, a large number of forward-stationed forces, or a robust APS inventory that enables rapid deployment, Army forces can only provide limited support to partner 5-12 FM 3-0 01 October 2022  Operations During Crisis forces. While immediate support may be limited, even limited support could prove decisive when it is obvious that additional capabilities are quickly moving into the theater to address initial shortfalls. SUSTAINMENT 5-50. Sustainment is central to force projection, and sustainment preparation of an operational environment is the basis for sustainment planning. Corps, division, and brigade planners focus on identifying the resources available in an operational area for use by friendly forces and ensuring access to them. The theater army is a key partner in providing this information to deploying units. A detailed estimate of requirements allows planners to advise the commander of the most effective method of providing adequate and responsive support, while minimizing the vulnerable sustainment footprint. There is no fundamental difference in sustainment preparation of an operational environment during competition, crisis, or armed conflict, except that sustainment activities intensify as Army forces respond to crisis and prepare for armed conflict, since time available decreases and requirements from risks to units on the ground increase exponentially. Proper sustainment permits the Army to project force over time and through the necessary depth of an AO. (See FM 4-0 for more information on sustainment.) REDEPLOYMENT 5-51. Redeployment is the transfer or rotation of forces and materiel to support another commander’s operational requirements, or to return personnel, equipment, and materiel to the home and/or demobilization stations for reintegration and/or out-processing (JP 3-35). National strategic leaders determine the appropriate time for the redeployment of Army forces. Usually, redeployment of Army forces does not occur until tensions reduce and conditions permit the transition of security and stability responsibilities to other legitimate authorities. ARMY ECHELONS DURING CRISIS 5-52. All Army echelons have considerable responsibilities when responding to a crisis. Each conducts reconnaissance, liaison, and troop preparation. As units deploy, they may send leaders and staffs to other headquarters and to ports and airfields to refine their understanding of requirements and the situation on the ground. Deploying units can expect their leaders to be called to outside planning meetings early in the process and for special training needs to emerge even as units are busy with other preparations for movement. Units can expect to receive individual replacements or augmentees and a number of attachments based on task organization. THEATER ARMY ROLES DURING CRISIS 5-53. The theater army commands all Army forces in the AOR until the CCDR attaches selected Army forces to a subordinate JTF. Until another organization can assume the role, the theater army initially divides its responsibilities between the Army component (the ARFOR) in the JOA or theater of operations and Army forces operating in other parts of the AOR. This may require force tailoring by the theater army to develop the initial request for forces, followed by additional task organization as forces arrive in the AOR. The theater army is able to perform as a JTF or combined forces land component command headquarters for limited contingency operations and during the initial period of a crisis. It requires rapid augmentation to conduct continuous operations in either case. 5-54. As the Service component command, the theater army remains responsible to Headquarters, Department of the Army for service-specific requirements within the AOR during a crisis. This falls under the ADCON chain of authority. This authority establishes a hierarchy for Army support to deployed forces without modifying the operational chain of command that runs from the CCDR through subordinate JFCs. For example, theater army commanders may— z Lead RSOI operations for arriving forces. z Complete collective training, theater orientation, and theater acclimation. z Manage force modernization of Army forces before their employment in the JOA. 01 October 2022 FM 3-0 5-13 Chapter 5 5-55. During joint operations sustainment is a Service responsibility except as specified by executive agency requirements, DOD directives, CCDRs’ lead Service designations, or inter-Service support agreements. CCDRs direct theater army commanders to provide Army support to other Services (ASOS) to agencies or multinational forces when required. However, shared sustainment responsibility or common-user logistics is more effective, especially for joint operations. Directive authority for logistics is the additional authority available to CCDRs to eliminate duplicative or overlapping sustainment responsibilities. The theater army coordinates with the combatant command staff to determine joint sustainment requirements, identify responsibilities, and enable commanders to exercise sustainment C2. (See ATP 3-93 for additional details on the theater army.) CORPS ROLES DURING CRISIS 5-56. During crisis, the corps headquarters may deploy into an operational area as a tactical headquarters with subordinate divisions and brigades. Corps typically deploy an early entry command post, comprising selected personnel from within the headquarters, to provide C2 of arriving forces. Should crisis become armed conflict, large-scale combat operations may require the corps headquarters to function under the command of a multinational force land component or become subordinate to a field army equivalent established as part of a multinational coalition. 5-57. Corps headquarters plan for all phases of an operation from mobilization to redeployment. Corps operations require planners to consider all functions and capabilities required to gain and maintain positions of relative advantage and the capabilities threat forces can use against friendly forces. Understanding the planning and execution timelines of various capabilities is critical when considering the integration of those capabilities into the overall plan. The corps headquarters is responsible for— z Understanding the threat. z Integrating information collection and intelligence analysis into the next higher echelon’s processes and systems. z Establishing liaison with its higher headquarters and planning reconnaissance of its initial assembly areas, routes, and forward assembly areas. z Assigning subordinate units areas of operations. z Identifying multiple routes from the points of debarkation through assembly areas to staging areas. z Establishing an initial concept of operations. z Planning to consolidate gains. z Coordinating cyberspace attack mitigation, including distributed denial of service, malicious software, or system intrusion. z Planning and preparing for communication denial and degradation. z Planning for dispersion of subordinate units along routes and within assembly areas. 5-58. Per the deployment order and operation plan (OPLAN) or operation order, the corps staff plans task organization and employment of subordinate units, integration and synchronization of operations, massing of effects, allocation of resources, and determination of priorities. The corps staff provides the primary Army interface to manage the time-phased force and deployment list for all its assigned forces. The corps determines when its command posts will arrive at a port of debarkation in relation to the arrival of protection, sustainment, and maneuver units. 5-59. A corps commander can influence, but not dictate, the tailoring of subordinate units. The CCDR, theater army, supporting combatant commands, U.S. Transportation Command, and U.S. Army Forces Command all make decisions concerning the composition and deployment sequence of the corps. A corps commander can, however, organize and prepare the corps command posts for efficient and effective movement throughout a deployment. By selecting personnel with the right skill sets and providing them the right mix of equipment, the commander, chief of staff, and assistant chief of staff, operations, match corps C2 capabilities with mission requirements. 5-60. Assigning initial staging areas, movement routes, and subsequent assembly areas in uncertain threat conditions requires a calculated balance between force protection and building combat power. Staging areas for subordinate division and separate brigade elements should be large enough for divisions and separate 5-14 FM 3-0 01 October 2022  Operations During Crisis brigades to disperse elements into company-sized tactical formations while they are performing maintenance checks, loading munitions, ensuring crew readiness, and preparing to move to forward positions. These plans may change frequently as new forces arrive, and they will need to be modified for every stage of deployment. (See ATP 3-92 for additional details on corps operations.) DIVISION 5-61. The division headquarters performs many of the same activities as the corps headquarters. The division headquarters fulfills its primary role as a tactical headquarters staffed, trained, and equipped to command two to five BCTs and other subordinate brigades and battalions. One or more of these brigades may be allied formations. Upon deployment into a theater, a division may undergo significant task organization in preparation for its assigned roles during operations. Initially, during crisis, a division conducts defensive, security, and stability tasks in support of joint operations. The primary role of a division during crisis is to demonstrate credible coercive force as a combined arms formation. Divisions should expect to conduct short notice training exercises with multinational partners and perform other activities that demonstrate capabilities as part of crisis response. In an immature theater, a division headquarters should be prepared to accommodate the command structure of the next higher echelon until that echelon’s systems are in place. (See ATP 3-91 for additional details on division operations.) BRIGADES 5-62. During crisis, brigades provide strategic leaders and JFCs with an alternative to deploying a corps or division. If strategic leaders or the joint force require a credible and rapidly deployable deterrent during an escalating crisis, they may decide to deploy a BCT, functional brigade, multifunctional brigade, or a combination thereof as part of a FDO or FRO. To conduct an effective FDO or FRO a brigade could be given prepare-to-deploy orders or conduct emergency deployment readiness exercises. Other options include moving brigades operating in a theater to dispersed locations with improved survivability that are advantageous for defense or integrating these forces into the area or mobile defensive plans of partner nations. If there is no corps or division present in the theater, the theater army provides C2 of the brigade. An example of a BCT rapidly deployed as an FRO occurred in 2019 in Iraq. Crisis Response: Baghdad Embassy Attack On 31 December 2019, during a time of heightened tensions with Iran, an initial wave of 750 paratroopers from the 82d Airborne division assigned to the immediate response force deployed to Baghdad to provide additional security. This deployment was in response to an attack that occurred on the U.S. embassy 18 hours earlier. The remainder of the Soldiers in the brigade deployed within days. In total, 3,000 Soldiers provided additional security at the embassy for almost two months. While forward deployed, the Soldiers continued training to demonstrate readiness, and they were postured to rapidly respond at the CCDR’s direction. CONSOLIDATING GAINS 5-63. During and after crisis response, Army forces consolidate gains to deny adversary forces the means to extend the crisis or create a similar crisis in the future. This will often entail maintaining an enhanced force posture in a JOA for a period of time to demonstrate U.S. willingness to defend allies and partners. Army forces continue to support improvements to host-nation capabilities through a security cooperation plan designed to make them less vulnerable to future crisis. If an adversary directly targets partner forces, or acts through a proxy, the United States must be prepared to reconstitute the partner’s forces as quickly as possible. The ability of Army forces to reconstitute partner nation forces is especially important to JFCs since, in many areas, only the Army has the capacity to conduct a comprehensive security cooperation program. Many allies and partners rely primarily on their armies and do not have robust navies or air forces. Consolidating gains 01 October 2022 FM 3-0 5-15 Chapter 5 during and after crisis response creates enduring change that reinforces deterrence against adversaries and improves relative advantages for U.S., allied, and partner forces. TRANSITION TO COMPETITION OR ARMED CONFLICT In the midst of war and crisis nothing is as clear or as certain as it appears in hindsight. Barbara Tuchman 5-64. There are two outcomes of a crisis—a de-escalation to competition or an escalation to armed conflict. Transitions are typically points of friction. Commanders emphasize information collection prior to and during transitions to maintain a detailed understanding of the threat and continuously assess the situation in order to position their forces to retain the initiative. TRANSITION BACK TO COMPETITION 5-65. During a crisis, partner nation security forces and government institutions may suffer losses that reduce capability and capacity due to the actions of adversary or proxy forces. Army forces may be tasked to execute security cooperation programs to help restore or maintain partner nation capabilities and capacity as a means to consolidate gains. Army forces seek to restore partner security forces and government institutions as quickly as possible to maintain popular support. Doing so reduces the need for large numbers of U.S. forces to deploy in the future or be maintained in theater to support or enable a partner nation’s security. A quick recovery also highlights the strength of the alliance or bilateral relationship of a partner nation with the United States. (See Chapter 4 for more information on partner nation capabilities and capacity.) 5-66. Army forces use products developed from the civil preparation of the environment to help rebuild partner-nation security forces. Army forces work with partner nations to do this and do not act unilaterally. The security force assistance brigade (SFAB) and civil affairs units are the ideal core for this effort, but all types of Army units may contribute. When the effort is large and there is a need for additional subject matter expertise, or there is a need to reconstitute host-nation conventional forces, additional Army forces may be required. (See JP 3-20 and FM 3-57 for more details on security cooperation and civil affairs operations.) 5-67. Army forces may help the JFC exploit favorably resolved crises to establish new patterns of behavior for a theater. While crises are generally uncertain and volatile, their resolution and resulting transition back to competition provide opportunities to capitalize on changes in an operational environment. Army forces support joint efforts to create and reinforce changes that benefit the United States and its allies and partners in competition and provide improved relative advantages that assist in deterring future adversary malign behavior. TRANSITION TO ARMED CONFLICT 5-68. Army forces responding to a crisis are prepared for and expect to fight. This saves time during the transition and requires an understanding of the OPLAN or likely concept of operations as early as possible. Forward-positioned forces reposition into battle positions or tactical assembly areas and take all available measures to protect themselves from attack in every domain as they prepare for combat. When located with allied or partner units, Army forces synchronize their activities to ensure unity of purpose and mutual support. Depending upon the enemy and distance from the United States, Army forces should expect to receive little support in the opening stages of a conflict and plan accordingly. 5-16 FM 3-0 01 October 2022