Chapter 6 Ops During Armed Conflict PDF

Chapter 6 Operations During Armed Conflict The art of war is simple enough. Find out where your enemy is. Get at him as soon as you can. Strike him as hard as you can, and keep moving on....

Chapter 6 Operations During Armed Conflict The art of war is simple enough. Find out where your enemy is. Get at him as soon as you can. Strike him as hard as you can, and keep moving on. Ulysses S. Grant Section I of this chapter introduces large-scale combat operations and the ways in which they vary. It addresses topics applicable to both offensive and defensive operations, including enemy methods, relative advantages, integrating with the joint force, defeat mechanisms, and enabling operations. Section II describes defensive operations. Section III describes offensive operations. Section IV describes transition to post-conflict competition and stability operations. SECTION I – ARMED CONFLICT AND LARGE-SCALE COMBAT OPERATIONS 6-1. Armed conflict encompasses the conditions of a strategic relationship in which opponents use lethal force as the primary means for achieving objectives and imposing their will on the other. The employment of lethal force is the defining characteristic of armed conflict, and it is the primary function of the Army. Lethality’s immediate effect is in the physical dimension—reducing the enemy’s capability and capacity to fight. However, the utility of lethal force extends into the information and human dimensions where it, along with the other instruments of national power, influence enemy behavior, decision making, and will to fight. 6-2. During armed conflict, operations usually reflect combinations of conventional and irregular warfare approaches. Leaders apply doctrine for large-scale combat operations during limited contingencies that require conventional warfare approaches. Irregular warfare includes counterinsurgency and unconventional warfare, which other publications specifically address. The initial actions of large-scale combat operations will likely overlap with actions initiated during competition and crisis. For example, while some units are engaged in offensive or defensive operations, other units may be completing non-combat evacuations while in contact with enemy forces. (See FM 3-24 for detailed information about counterinsurgency. See ATP 3-05.1 for more information about unconventional warfare.) 6-3. Large-scale combat operations are extensive joint combat operations in terms of scope and size of forces committed, conducted as campaigns aimed at achieving operational and strategic objectives through the application of force. Large-scale combat on land occurs within the framework of a larger joint campaign, usually with an Army headquarters forming the base of a joint force headquarters. These operations typically entail high tempo, high resource consumption, and high casualty rates. Large-scale combat introduces levels of complexity, lethality, ambiguity, and speed to military activities not common in other operations. 6-4. Large-scale combat operations occur in circumstances usually associated with state-on-state conflict, and they encompass divisions and corps employing joint and Army capabilities from multiple domains in a combined arms manner. Irregular warfare activities often complement large-scale combat operations, with conventional, irregular, and special operations forces conducting operations close to each other. This proximity requires cooperation between friendly forces of all types to ensure success. In other cases, irregular warfare occurs largely in a secondary joint operations area (JOA) or another theater of operations. When this occurs, the combatant commander (CCDR) ensures sufficient coordination of operations to support unity of purpose at the national level. 6-5. Successful large-scale combat operations defeat enemy armed forces while establishing control over land and populations to achieve operational and strategic objectives. They may capitalize on superior military capability to quickly overwhelm a weaker enemy and consolidate gains as part of a rapid campaign. Large 01 October 2022 FM 3-0 6-1 Chapter 6 scale combat operations against more capable enemy forces are likely to be of longer duration, lasting months or longer. 6-6. Army forces may execute large-scale combat operations in a supporting, enabling, or advisory role, instead of constituting the bulk of ground maneuver forces. One example was OPERATION INHERENT RESOLVE, beginning in 2014, during which a U.S.-led combined joint task force supported Iraqi Security Forces and Syrian Democratic Forces in defeating the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. In these cases, U.S. forces applied large-scale combat operations tactics in support of a partner force. 6-7. The characteristics of large-scale combat operations vary based on many factors, including the enemy. When fighting against a less capable enemy, the U.S. joint force may have significant advantages in most domains. The principal concerns during such operations include how to win rapidly at minimal cost, consolidate gains, and transition responsibility for an area to legitimate authorities. When fighting against a peer enemy, able to contest the joint force in all domains, the operational environment becomes much more difficult. Integrated air defense and long-range fires systems; cyberspace and electronic warfare capabilities; chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear capabilities (CBRN); and global reconnaissance and surveillance networks can create parity or significant enemy advantages in one or more domains, particularly early during a conflict and when operating close to its own borders. To succeed, the U.S. joint force must create its own relative advantages, preserve combat power, and rapidly exploit what opportunities it creates. Commanders must assume risk to create opportunity and sequence their operations because they cannot defeat enemy forces in a single decisive battle. ENEMY APPROACHES TO ARMED CONFLICT 6-8. Although peer enemies mainly seek to obtain their strategic objectives during competition, they will engage in armed conflict if they view that the rewards are worth the risk. Once engaged in armed conflict, peer enemies employ combinations of threat methods to render U.S. military power irrelevant whenever possible and inflict unacceptable losses on the United States, its allies, and its partners. Russia and China employ their instruments of national power and military capabilities in distinct ways. RUSSIA 6-9. The Russian view of war is that it is often undeclared, fought for relatively limited policy objectives, and occurs across all domains. Russian leaders assess that modern conflicts are characterized by a destructive and rapid initial period of war that is more decisive than in the past. Additionally, Russia considers that non-nuclear strategic precision-guided weapons can achieve strategic effects on par with nuclear weapons. Doctrinally, Russia plans to employ nuclear weapons in response to non-nuclear attacks when those attacks threaten Russian sovereignty. 6-10. During armed conflict, Russia seeks to exert simultaneous pressure in all domains. Russian strategies intend to increase the costs of confrontation and make the objectives of the United States and its allies politically and economically unsupportable. Russia’s objective is to weaken U.S. national will to continue a conflict by inflicting highly visible and embarrassing losses on U.S. forces. 6-11. Russian forces intend to win conflicts with massed and precision fires. Russian forces will attempt to set the operational conditions so that deployment of U.S. forces is ultimately counter to U.S. interests. If the U.S. does deploy forces, Russian goals are centered on creating constraints that prevent success of the United States’ campaign. Russian methodologies focus on four key areas: z Disrupt or prevent understanding of the operational environment. Russian information warfare activities manipulate the acquisition, transmission, and presentation of information in a way that suits Russia’s preferred outcomes. z Target stability. Russia may foster instability in key areas and among key groups so that regional security conditions do not support U.S. operational requirements. z Disaggregate partnerships. Russia acts upon U.S. allies and partners to reduce the ability of the United States to operate in its preferred combined, joint, and interagency manner. z Prevent access. Russia employs pre-conflict activities to deny access to U.S. forces, using nonlethal means initially and transitioning to lethal means if necessary. It seeks to undermine 6-2 FM 3-0 01 October 2022  Operations During Armed Conflict relationships, raise political stakes, manipulate public opinion, and attack resolve to constrain or deny basing rights, overflight corridors, logistics support, and concerted allied action. 6-12. As it applies instruments of national power, Russia integrates military forces and other means at selected times and locations to achieve desired objectives as part of its overall campaign. It uses offensive and defensive tactics and techniques that include acts of crime and terrorism. These actions can also be employed to manipulate population perceptions and dissuade support to U.S. military forces or other institutions. When necessary, Russia uses acts of physical violence, psychological operations, and different means of manipulating information to gain influence and develop voluntary or coerced cooperation in a target population. Concurrently, it uses indirect means to progressively degrade U.S. combat power and infrastructure resources and to otherwise psychologically influence the political, social, economic, military, and information variables of the operational environment. 6-13. Russian tactical-level units operate as combined arms forces to exploit the effects of both precision strikes and massed fires. Against lesser opponents, Russian forces employ deep maneuver when possible to defeat an enemy’s will to resist early in a conflict. In other cases, they mass capabilities in pursuit of more limited objectives while fixing their adversary along a broad front. Regardless of the situation, a basic principle of Russian military actions is to use the effects of strike actions to create the conditions for military success. 6-14. Russia prefers to employ all available national elements of power prior to using maneuver forces, and after force-on-force operations begin, it will continue to employ these integrated national capabilities to support tactical maneuver. Russian forces also employ denial and deception (maskirovka) to mask the true intent of their operation. To execute tactics, Russian units apply intelligence methods and decision making, that are scientifically based, to— z Understand the conditions of an operational environment that will impact operations. z Determine the tactical functions required and calculate the required allocation of combat power needed to accomplish a mission in a specific time and location. z Understand the psychological and cognitive issues among competing friendly forces, aggressor forces, the local population, and other actors in an operational environment. CHINA 6-15. China considers three aspects in the country’s view of conflict: comprehensive national power, deception, and the Three Warfares. Comprehensive national power is made up of hard power and soft power. Hard power includes military capability and capacity, defense industry capability, intelligence capability, and related diplomatic actions such as threats and coercion. Soft power includes such things as economic power, diplomatic efforts, foreign development, global image, and international prestige. China views comprehensive national power as a vital measure of its global status. Ultimately, all forms of conflict— military, diplomatic, or other—must enhance China’s comprehensive national power. (For more information on China’s comprehensive national power, see ATP 7-100.3.) 6-16. Deception plays a critical role in every part of the Chinese approach to conflict. People’s Liberation Army planners employ stratagems to achieve their deception goals. Stratagems describe the enemy’s mindset, focusing on how to achieve the desired perceptions by the opponent, and then they prescribe ways to exploit those perceptions. 6-17. China’s strategic approach to conflict employs Three Warfares designed to support and reinforce the People’s Liberation Army’s traditional military operations. Though these approaches are called warfares, they are universally nonlethal and do not involve direct combat operations. If a battle must be fought, the Three Warfares are designed to unbalance, deceive, and coerce opponents to influence their perceptions in ways that create advantage. The Three Warfares are— z Public opinion warfare. z Psychological warfare. z Legal warfare. 6-18. Public opinion warfare is China’s high-level information campaign designed to set the terms of political discussion. China views this effort as capable of seizing the initiative in a conflict before any shots 01 October 2022 FM 3-0 6-3 Chapter 6 are fired by shaping public discourse, influencing political positions, and building international acceptance of Chinese interests. 6-19. China’s psychological warfare is broadly similar to U.S. military information support operations in that it is intended to influence the behavior of a given audience. Psychological warfare is the deliberate manipulation of psychological reactions in target audiences, designed to create and reinforce attitudes and behaviors favorable to China’s objectives and guide adversary behavior towards China’s preferred outcomes. 6-20. Legal warfare for China is the setting of legal conditions for victory—both domestically and internationally. Legal warfare seeks to unbalance potential opponents by exploiting international or domestic law to hinder their military operations, to create legal justification for People’s Liberation Army operations worldwide, and to support Chinese interests through a valid legal framework. It guides how the People’s Liberation Army trains to treat prisoners of war, detainees, and civilians, and it guides how the People’s Liberation Army abides by international legal conventions, codes, and laws. 6-21. During armed conflict, China employs systems warfare in combination with the other threat methods, such as preclusion, isolation, and sanctuary. China employs these threat methods throughout all domains and at all levels of warfare. Systems warfare involves— z Bypassing enemy systems’ areas of strength, thus gaining a combat advantage by approaching them asymmetrically. z Developing systems that excel at exploiting perceived weaknesses in enemy systems, thereby offsetting their strengths by undermining the systems’ ability to perform assigned missions. z Undermining international alliances through diplomatic efforts. z Conducting cyberspace attacks to disable air or seaports. z Using special operations forces to undermine civilian morale through covert operations. Note. China uses the term “special operations forces” to identify their special forces units per ATP 7-100.3. Russian doctrine uses the term “special purpose forces” for their special forces units. For brevity, this manual uses “special operations forces” to describe special forces units employed by an adversary or enemy. 6-22. Although many actors on the world stage have embraced the concepts of systems warfare, including Russia, China has woven the idea into every aspect of their warfighting capabilities and methods. The systems warfare concept consists of two basic ideas: creating purpose-built operational systems that combine key capabilities under a single command, and the use of these operational systems to asymmetrically target and exploit vulnerable components of an opponent’s system. The People’s Liberation Army believes that by effectively destroying, isolating, neutralizing, or offsetting key capabilities, it can degrade the enemy’s will and ability to resist enough to achieve victory. 6-23. At the tactical level, systems warfare centers largely on targeting high-value battlefield systems such as radars, command and communications nodes, field artillery and air defense systems, and critical logistics support means. China relies on heavy employment of long-range fires at maximum standoff distance to target friendly joint enablers and command and control (C2) nodes. Examples of tactical system warfare include using heavy rocket artillery to defeat or destroy enemy radars and artillery systems, electronic warfare to suppress or neutralize enemy command and communications networks, and deception operations to target enemy leaders’ situational understanding. RELATIVE ADVANTAGES DURING ARMED CONFLICT 6-24. Army leaders must anticipate enemy advantages and have a plan to overcome them. Army forces avoid attacking directly into enemy strengths. They best overcome enemy advantages by creating their own advantages to exploit in pursuit of assigned objectives. Army formations most effectively achieve overmatch through the integration and synchronization of joint and multinational capabilities employed from positions in multiple domains that create cascading dilemmas and defeat the enemy’s operational approach. 6-4 FM 3-0 01 October 2022  Operations During Armed Conflict PHYSICAL ADVANTAGES 6-25. Friendly forces require physical advantages to defeat enemy forces and occupy land areas, exert control over lines of communications, and protect the physical infrastructure used to attain information and human advantages. Throughout armed conflict, leaders seek physical advantages that include— z Position. z Range. z Speed of movement. z Technologically superior capabilities. z Terrain and weather. 6-26. Positional advantage occurs when one force’s location facilitates its ability to exploit an enemy weakness. For example, a force positioned to attack the flank of an enemy defense oriented in a different direction is an advantage because it causes enemy forces to reposition and negates some of the benefits of a prepared defense. Gaining this advantage typically requires maneuver and involves assuming risk to a formation or in another part of the assigned area. 6-27. Friendly forces may enjoy a range advantage, particularly when employing joint capabilities. Superior range can enable the delivery of effects for which an enemy force has no immediate answer. Range advantage can also apply to distances friendly forces can move relative to enemy forces, particularly when friendly forces can do so quickly. 6-28. A higher speed of movement relative to enemy forces creates an advantage when leaders exploit it to move faster than enemy forces can effectively react or reposition. Speed of movement enables most other physical advantages—when employed with judgment. Speed mitigates risk and affords protection when units are closing with enemy forces while in range of enemy fires capabilities. The faster a unit closes with the enemy, the shorter the exposure. However, focusing on speed without applying judgment can cause units to blunder into enemy engagement areas and suffer heavy losses. 6-29. Leaders exploit technological advantages while directing course of action development and schemes of maneuver. New technological advantages do not always have to be new pieces of equipment. Using old technology or combining Army and joint capabilities in new and novel ways is often effective in gaining advantages. 6-30. Terrain and weather often provide advantages, especially in terms of mobility and countermobility. Leaders use high-speed avenues of approach to increase the speed of movement. They use severely restrictive terrain to reduce the mobility of enemy armored formations. In the offense, leaders use terrain to conceal their movement. In the defense, they use reverse slopes to provide cover and concealment. In the offense or defense, rain helps infantry reduce the noise of dismounted movement through wooded areas. Limited visibility periods help conceal battle positions and friendly movements from enemy reconnaissance efforts. INFORMATION ADVANTAGES 6-31. Information advantages invariably overlap with and emanate from physical and human advantages. To gain an information advantage, units first require a physical or human advantage. Army forces create and exploit information advantages by acting through the physical and human dimensions of an operational environment. Leaders combine information advantages with other advantages to understand the situation, decide, and act faster than enemy forces. Examples of information advantages during armed conflict include— z The ability to access enemy C2 systems to disrupt, degrade, or exploit enemy information. z Opportunities created by deception operations to achieve surprise and thwart enemy targeting. z The ability to mask electromagnetic signatures. z The ability to integrate and synchronize friendly forces in denied or degraded environments through use of redundant communications. z The ability to rapidly share information with domestic and international audiences to counter enemy malign narratives. 01 October 2022 FM 3-0 6-5 Chapter 6 z The ability to inform a wide range of audiences to maintain legitimacy and promote the friendly narrative. z The ability to rapidly share and analyze information among commanders and staffs to facilitate decisions and orders. HUMAN ADVANTAGES 6-32. Because war is a clash between opposing human wills, the human dimension is central to war. Army formations are principally designed to achieve objectives through the threat or employment of lethal force, which has a psychological effect. Understanding an enemy force’s tolerance for casualties and the political and social will to endure them is important to understanding the level of effort required to prevail against enemy forces in large-scale combat operations. Leaders do everything possible in the physical and information dimensions to reduce the enemy’s will to fight. During armed conflict, human advantages include— z Political and national will that supports strategic objectives. z Experienced, well-trained formations. z Leadership well versed in the mission command approach to C2. z Adherence to the law of war. z Unit cohesion and Soldiers with the mental and physical stamina for combat. z The trust of the host-nation population. z Confidence in a sustainment system that provides the best possible medical treatment and adequate supplies. z Interoperability and mutual trust between allies and host-nation partners. OPERATING AS PART OF THE JOINT FORCE 6-33. The Army always fights as part of a joint force, and usually as part of a multinational coalition during large-scale combat operations. Because combatant commanders (CCDRs) often assign the senior Army commander as the joint force land component commander (JFLCC), it is imperative that Army leaders from the JFLCC to brigade level understand the integration of operations on land with those in the other domains for the joint force. 6-34. The Army supports the joint force by providing the capabilities and capacity to apply sustained combined arms landpower through movement, close combat, and fires at whatever scale is necessary to defeat enemies on land. It does this by employing capabilities from the land, maritime, air, space, and cyberspace domains in support of ground operations on land and employing ground-based capabilities to enable operations in the other domains. 6-35. Army forces’ contributions to the joint force extend well beyond Army support to other Services (ASOS) through a variety of actions. They include— z Establish C2 on land. z Counter air and missile threats that deny air and maritime freedom of action with land-based systems. z Defend and control key terrain. z Defeat components of enemy antiaccess (A2) and area denial (AD). z Conduct large-scale combat operations. z Sustain large-scale combat operations. z Consolidate gains. ESTABLISH COMMAND AND CONTROL ON LAND 6-36. Establishing C2 on land requires a land component command that assigns land areas and properly defines command and support relationships between subordinate forces. A commander assigns land areas and command and support relationships based on the mission and the commander’s concept of operations. A commander also considers the level of joint support available when assigning land areas and task-organizing 6-6 FM 3-0 01 October 2022  Operations During Armed Conflict forces. Army forces establish C2 of land areas at the direction of the joint force commander (JFC), normally the JFLCC. A JFLCC is the commander within a unified command, subordinate unified command, or joint task force (JTF) responsible to the establishing commander for recommending the proper employment of assigned, attached, or other available land forces; planning and coordinating land operations; and accomplishing assigned missions. C2 across the width and depth of the land component commander’s assigned areas requires access to strategic communications. Therefore, commanders plan for the movement and placement of strategic communications systems in C2 nodes. (See JP 3-31 and FM 3-94 for more information on the JFLCC.) 6-37. In addition to their assigned missions, Army forces generally consider four key issues. They are the assignment of subordinate land areas, the concept of mutual support between subordinates, the integration of echelons in terms of time, space, and purpose, and the proper task organization of the land force. Assigning Land Areas 6-38. The JFC typically assigns a land area of operations (AO) to the land component command. A land AO does not typically encompass the entire land operational area of the JFC’s joint operations area (JOA), but the size, shape, and positioning should be adequate for the JFLCC to accomplish the mission and protect the forces under the JFLCC’s control. In the assigned land AO, the JFLCC establishes an operational framework for the AO that assigns responsibilities to subordinate ground force commanders and allocates capabilities to fulfill those responsibilities. Based on the situation, the land component command assigns areas (AO, zone, or sector) to subordinate tactical echelons. Figure 6-1 on page 6-8 reflects a baseline doctrinal template for depths and frontages by echelon. (See Chapter 2 for more information on considerations for how to assign areas to subordinate echelons.) Note. Political constraints, geography, ally and partner dynamics, forces available, the types of operations being conducted, and the enemy all influence the appropriate AO size for each echelon. 01 October 2022 FM 3-0 6-7 Chapter 6 Figure 6-1. Doctrinal template of depths and frontages 6-8 FM 3-0 01 October 2022  Operations During Armed Conflict Applying Mutual Support 6-39. Commanders consider mutual support when task-organizing forces, assigning land areas, and positioning units. A high degree of mutual support between units provides flexibility and options to commanders and creates multiple dilemmas for enemy forces. When units can support each other, commanders have more options to combine capabilities from all warfighting functions and across all domains. Commanders and staffs assess supporting range of capabilities between units to understand their options with respect to mutual support and reducing the vulnerability of friendly forces to defeat in detail. Air capabilities and indirect fires have long ranges that provide options for increasing the supporting range between units. 6-40. Supporting distance depends on the mobility of the formation, the terrain, and the enemy situation. When units operate outside weapons ranges, they may be able to maneuver from supporting distances to enable each other. Infantry units may be able to maneuver a short supporting distance to enable an armored formation in severely restrictive terrain. A combat aviation brigade may be in supporting distance to aid an infantry brigade isolated from the rest of the division. When units must operate in a widely distributed manner, commanders and staffs position reserves so that they can maneuver in support of multiple formations depending on the situation. 6-41. Units are not within supporting distance regardless of their proximity to each other if they cannot communicate or are fixed by enemy forces. When units share a common operational picture (COP), relative proximity is less important than the ability to coordinate maneuver and fires. Exploiting the advantage of mutual support requires that units synchronize maneuver and fires more effectively than enemy forces do. 6-42. Large-scale operations involving both conventional and special operations forces require the integration and synchronization of conventional and special operations efforts. The JTF commander must consider the different capabilities and limitations of both conventional and special operations forces, particularly in the areas of C2 and sustainment. Exchanging liaison elements between conventional and special operations staffs further integrates efforts of all forces concerned. (For more information on coordinating conventional and special operations forces, see FM 6-05.) 6-43. Commanders assign subordinate units noncontiguous areas when the situation requires, either because the intent is to move along dispersed axes of advance or to minimize detection in locations like rear areas. When this occurs, the higher headquarters retains responsibility for the risk associated with the unassigned areas and mitigates that risk with capabilities it controls. As long as friendly forces have the initiative and can force the enemy to react, large units operating in non-contiguous areas are able to protect their lines of communication and can provide advantages at acceptable risk. However, risk to non-contiguous forces increases quickly the longer they become static, particularly in their rear areas. Large AOs with limited numbers of forces, and maritime environments where operations occur across groups of small islands are conditions that require non-contiguous assigned areas. 6-44. Joint capabilities can mitigate risk when subordinate units operate in noncontiguous areas of operations beyond supporting range or supporting distance of other ground forces. However, depending on joint capabilities outside an Army commander’s direct control entails the risk that those capabilities may not be available due to enemy activity, weather, or higher JFC priorities. (See Chapter 3 for more information on mutual support. See Chapter 8 for more information on non-contiguous assigned areas in maritime environments.) Integrating Echelons 6-45. Describing echelon roles and responsibilities in time, space, and purpose makes operations more cohesive Providing proper focus enables subordinate through the depth of an operational area where enemy initiative while allowing higher headquarters formations and irregular forces are intermingled with to employ their limited capabilities to friendly forces. Intermingling of forces increases greatest effect. complexity and make it difficult to retain unity of effort between echelons. Commanders and staffs integrate the operations of all echelons to ensure that they accrue advantages and accomplish objectives. 01 October 2022 FM 3-0 6-9 Chapter 6 6-46. Echelons maneuver subordinate formations to defeat enemy forces. Mission success demands that higher echelons provide support to subordinate operations. During large-scale combat operations, brigade combat teams (BCTs) and divisions generally focus on defeating enemy maneuver formations. Corps and higher echelons generally focus on defeating enemy integrated air defense systems and portions of the enemy’s integrated fires command according to the JFC plan and priorities. 6-47. BCTs need the time and space to defeat lead enemy security operations and maneuver echelons. Divisions provide time and protection for subordinate formations by disintegrating the cohesion of follow- on forces, reserves, and short- and mid-range fires that threaten close and rear operations. Divisions maneuver brigades in close operations against enemy maneuver forces. Divisions employ attack aviation and close air support to enable their operations and employ rear operations to sustain tempo and operational reach. Focusing on enemy maneuver forces does not prevent BCTs and divisions from attacking components of the enemy’s integrated air defense or fires capabilities. Corps routinely require divisions to attack priority enemy capabilities that are in the division’s assigned area or area of influence. 6-48. Corps maneuver divisions and set conditions by employing joint capabilities, including space and cyberspace effects, to defeat enemy mid- and long-range fires, air and missile defense capabilities, and their associated networks and sensors. Additionally, corps disrupt the movement of subsequent maneuver formations. Corps ensure division rear areas do not expand beyond their capacity to control, and they continue to expand division initial efforts to consolidate gains. The land component command provides mutual support to other components and maintains unity of effort on land with unified action partners. Land component command assessments ensure that tactical actions are having the desired effects in the physical, information, and human dimensions. They ensure that command narratives match the tactical situation, and that tactical actions reinforce command narratives. (See Figure 6-2 for a notional depiction of echelon roles and responsibilities in terms of time, space, and purpose.) 6-49. Higher headquarters actively aid their subordinate formations in their fights, not merely attaching or assigning them with additional capabilities. Commanders and staffs actively avoid becoming so narrowly focused on their echelon’s roles and responsibilities that they allow their subordinate formations to fail. 6-10 FM 3-0 01 October 2022  Operations During Armed Conflict Figure 6-2. Notional roles and responsibilities in terms of time, space, and purpose at different echelons. 01 October 2022 FM 3-0 6-11 Chapter 6 Task-Organizing 6-50. Commanders task organize their forces to ensure they are capable of fulfilling their roles, responsibilities, and purpose. Task-organizing is the act of designing a force, support staff, or sustainment package of specific size and composition to meet a unique task or mission (ADP 3-0). Considerations when task-organizing a force include the mission, training, experience, unit capabilities, sustainability, the operational environment, and the enemy threat. Task-organizing allocates assets to subordinate commanders and establishes command and support relationships. Task-organizing can be continuous, as commanders reorganize units for subsequent missions during the course of operations. The ability of Army forces to task-organize increases agility of formations. It lets commanders configure their units to best use available resources. It also allows Army forces to match unit capabilities to tasks. The ability of sustainment forces to tailor and task-organize ensures commanders have freedom of action to change with mission requirements. 6-51. The task organization of a formation supports C2 and formalizes command and support relationships between units. An effective task organization— z Facilitates the commander’s intent and concept of operations. z Ensures unity of command and synchronization of efforts through proper use of command and support relationships. z Retains flexibility with the concept of operations. z Ensures flexibility to meet unforeseen events and support future operations. z Weights the main effort. z Exploits enemy vulnerabilities. z Allocates resources with minimum restrictions on their employment. z Adapts to conditions imposed by changing variables. z Maintains or creates effective combined arms teams. z Offsets limitations and maximizes the potential of all available forces. z Provides mutual support among subordinate units to the greatest extent possible. 6-52. Units organize and reorganize their forces based on the tasks their higher headquarters assign throughout the course of an operation. Commanders ensure that each subordinate echelon has sufficient combat power assigned, attached, or in support to accomplish its missions. The allocation of supporting joint and Army capabilities takes into account main and supporting efforts by phase of an operation and other factors, like where to accept risk with economy of force efforts to create opportunities elsewhere. 6-53. Task organization changes place burdens on subordinate units, no matter how agile they may be. Before changing task organization, leaders consider less disruptive options, such as changes in support relationships and priorities of support. COUNTER AIR AND MISSILE THREATS 6-54. Enemy air and missile capabilities are a significant threat to Army forces. They increase risk to formations building combat power in assembly areas, to forces transiting lines of communications, and forces conducting rear operations. While able to attack friendly forces during offensive operations, they are particularly dangerous to command posts and any units detected while in static positions. Defeating enemy air and missile threats is necessary to create opportunities for offensive maneuver. However, the employment of maneuver forces that cause forward-positioned enemy air and missile capabilities to displace can complement counter-air operations. 6-55. Counter-air is a theater mission that integrates offensive and defensive operations to establish and maintain a desired degree of control of the air by neutralizing or destroying enemy aircraft and missiles, both on the ground and in the air. These operations may include the use of Army manned or unmanned aircraft and long-range fires, maneuver forces, special operations, space operations, cyberspace operations, and electromagnetic warfare capabilities. 6-56. Defensive counter-air operations are all defensive measures within the theater designed to neutralize or destroy enemy forces attempting to penetrate or attack through friendly airspace. Defensive counter-air encompasses active and passive defensive actions taken to destroy, nullify, or reduce the effectiveness of 6-12 FM 3-0 01 October 2022  Operations During Armed Conflict hostile air and missile threats against friendly forces and assets. The goal of defensive counter-air operations, in concert with offensive counter-air operations, is to provide an area from which forces can operate while protected from air and missile threats. Defensive counter-air operations must be integrated and synchronized with offensive counter-air operations and all other joint force operations. The area air defense commander, when established by the JFC, is responsible for defensive counter-air planning and operations. 6-57. The JFC designates an area air defense command with the authority to plan, coordinate, and integrate overall joint force defensive counter-air operations through the joint air operations center. Together they establish an integrated air defense system. With the support of the component commanders, the area air defense command develops, integrates, and distributes a JFC-approved joint area air defense plan. 6-58. Friendly forces conduct air and missile engagements in accordance with guidelines and rules established by the area air defense commander, who is normally the joint force air component commander. A joint force air component commander is from the service with the most air assets and the capability to plan, task, and control joint air operations in an AO, typically the Air Force or Navy. 6-59. The Army air and missile defense command (AAMDC) is the Army’s lead organization for Army air and missile defense (AMD) forces in a theater. The AAMDC commander, as the theater army AMD coordinator, assists the ARFOR commander and the area air defense commander in the planning and coordination of the critical asset list and the creation of the defended asset list. 6-60. Army air defense artillery (ADA) forces conduct AMD operations for the joint force. Army forces may attack to seize key terrain for the emplacement and employment of theater air and missile defense systems by the JFC to defeat portions of the enemy air and missile capabilities. Forward deployed or early entry ADA forces defend critical assets against air attack while the JFC builds combat power. 6-61. The critical asset list identifies the most critical assets requiring protection, and it serves as the foundation for a defended asset list, which allocates available ADA forces. Integration with joint or multinational AMD components in the JOA can mitigate some shortages of AMD systems. Short-range air defense (SHORAD) provides air defense against low-altitude air threats for key joint and Army assets, primarily amphibious landing sites, ports, airfields, command posts, and crossing sites. Integrated C2 across all ADA echelons enables the most efficient allocation of limited SHORAD and early warning assets. High-to-medium altitude AMD forces defend joint and Army forces against ballistic missile threats. 6-62. When planning, positioning, and determining how often ADA units are required to conduct survivability moves, units take into account the range of enemy indirect fires and the ability of enemy forces to identify ADA unit signatures. Maneuver units may be required to defend ADA units against ground attack. (See JP 3-01 for more information on countering air and missile threats. See FM 3-01 for more information about Army AMD operations.) DEFEND AND CONTROL KEY TERRAIN 6-63. The joint force has enduring requirements that include defending allies with forward-stationed forces, controlling strategic lines of communications to enable the deployment of combat power, and controlling the key terrain required during joint forcible entry operations. The contributions of Army forces both protect and enable the other members of the joint force, which in turn enable greater freedom of action and opportunities for operations on land. (See Section II of this chapter for information on defense during large-scale combat operations.) Defense by Forward-Stationed Forces 6-64. Armed conflict often occurs after a long period of competition and is likely to begin with some form of enemy aggression against a U.S. ally or partner, an attack on forward-stationed U.S. forces, or both. Forward-stationed forces whose combat mission involves defending as part of an allied effort may be required to conduct mobile or area defenses or retrogrades or reposition to tactical assembly areas where they can prepare for their role in future operations. Advisor teams from the theater-aligned security force assistance brigade (SFAB) may embed alongside threatened partners, providing real-time tactical intelligence and access to U.S. capabilities. Commanders and staffs ensure defending forces have the appropriate priority for Army and joint fires. Operation plans (OPLANs) and supporting subordinate plans identify main defensive 01 October 2022 FM 3-0 6-13 Chapter 6 positions, security areas, force requirements, the locations of tactical assembly areas, and other planned locations. Building on preparations made during competition, units occupy these positions and, when able, they make improvements to overhead cover, concealment, communications, and fields of fire. Friendly forces hinder enemy detection efforts by combining real preparations with preparations of fake positions. Defensive preparations during competition, particularly the establishment of survivability positions, preserve combat power when enemy preparatory fires commence with little or no warning. 6-65. Forward-stationed forces that have a mission to reposition at the outset of armed conflict require familiarization and understanding of routes and future positions. They acquire this during competition. As part of rehearsals, units exercise alert and recall procedures, load plans, ammunition draws and distributions, tactical road marches, and passages of lines with the actual units that they would pass through. Leaders ensure rehearsals reflect combat conditions as much as possible, and they pay attention to details such as limited visibility movements, secure radio communications with allies, and in-transit maintenance plans. 6-66. Army forces, especially those stationed in forward locations or tasked to protect critical joint capabilities, continuously improve the survivability of their positions. Whenever possible, leaders ensure that key capabilities are mobile, and they take active measures to complicate their targeting during competition and crisis by moving them irregularly, using camouflage, digging in when stationary, and maintaining dispersion. Unit standards and discipline, inculcated and habituated with a protection mindset during training, determine success or failure during the opening phases of a conflict. 6-67. Depending upon what a specific OPLAN says or a situation dictates, some forward-stationed forces may reposition to tactical assembly areas to conduct specific tasks or preserve combat power. They may conduct these operations in or out of contact, and leaders must plan and rehearse them to be successful. When they involve rearward passage of lines through allied forces, units participate in rehearsals using the same procedures and secure communications planned for actual execution to maintain operations security. 6-68. When bypassed by enemy maneuver forces, commanders of forward-positioned forces take the initiative to stay in the fight. They seek to defeat elements of enemy follow-on forces. They make every attempt to disrupt enemy sustainment and long-range fires capabilities conducting deep strikes against friendly forces. These operations are most successful when supported by local populations. (See paragraphs 6-159 through 6-161 for more information on passages of lines. See paragraph 6-190 for more information on retrograde operations.) Control Strategic Lines of Communications and Key Terrain 6-69. Controlling strategic lines of communications and key terrain is essential to the joint force’s ability to project sustain combat power. Russia and China can contest joint operations across the globe, from the strategic support area in the continental U.S., along air, land, and maritime shipping lanes, to intermediate staging bases, and forward to tactical assembly areas. Because strategic lines of communications usually include key land areas, Army forces play a critical role in defending them. 6-70. Enemies integrate conventional and irregular warfare capabilities to disrupt lines of communications from the strategic support area to the close area. Enemy air, space, cyberspace, and missile capabilities are able to range targets anywhere in the world. Enemies can employ espionage or surrogates to attack infrastructure and populations in the continental United States. Enemy surface and subsurface maritime capabilities, in conjunction with unconventional approaches, will disrupt maritime lines of communications. Enemy medium- and long-range fires will contest the ability of Army forces to move combat power into forward tactical assembly areas. 6-71. Army forces control key staging areas such as airfields, railheads, and ports. They employ survivability methods and techniques appropriate to the situation to harden their positions. Depending on the operational and mission variables, these areas may be vulnerable to enemy cyberspace attacks and other methods of information warfare, espionage, terrorist attacks, special operations forces, ballistic missile attacks, and weapons of mass destruction. 6-72. Although the other Services are responsible to secure the air and maritime lines of communications, Army forces may secure some land areas, especially in vicinity of airfields and ports. Aircraft and ships must displace at irregular intervals to complicate enemy targeting, which in turn complicates planning requirements when Army forces are required to provide protection or other forms of support. Securing key 6-14 FM 3-0 01 October 2022  Operations During Armed Conflict terrain for use by other Services is important, even when it initially reduces combat power available for other purposes. Enabling other Services helps ensure the flow of Army forces into theater. 6-73. During armed conflict, joint operations to enforce sanctions or conduct blockades may require Army forces to control critical maritime choke points from land. Army capabilities, such as unmanned aircraft systems (UASs), long-range precision fires, AMD, attack aviation, electromagnetic warfare, inform and influence activities, security force assistance, and area security provide the joint force with options. (See JP 3-32 for more information on sea control.) 6-74. During offensive operations, commanders economize security of rear areas and protection of lines of communications to weight the main effort. To mitigate risk, commanders cooperate within the joint force and with multinational and other unified action partners for support. Allies and partners, in particular, can provide security capacity, situational awareness, and expertise in interacting with local populations, relieving Army forces of area security operations better suited to host-nation forces. DEFEAT COMPONENTS OF ENEMY ANTIACCESS AND AREA DENIAL 6-75. Enemy A2 and AD approaches deny friendly force protection and freedom of action. Enemies pursue A2 and AD approaches with lethal means that significantly increase the risk to forward-stationed forces and the ability to deploy and stage additional forces into tactical assembly areas. Understanding the structure and function of the enemy’s integrated fires command helps friendly forces disintegrate the cohesion of enemy A2 and AD approaches and create exploitable opportunities for the joint force to conduct offensive operations. Enemy Integrated Fires Command 6-76. An integrated fires command is a dedicated combination of C2 structures and organic and attached joint fire support units. The integrated fires command exercises centralized C2 of all allocated, dedicated fire support assets retained by its level of command. This can include aviation, artillery, naval gunfire, and surface-to-surface missile units from different commands and services. It also exercises C2 over all reconnaissance, intelligence, surveillance, and target acquisition assets dedicated to its support. An integrated fires command is tasked to engage designated operational and strategic targets. Integrated fires commands are typically associated with campaign-level headquarters. However, there are circumstances where an integrated fires command may be formed at the theater level. For example, the theater could have two separate campaigns, requiring a centralization of critical fire support assets at theater level to achieve the strategic or theater campaign objectives. Enemy forces integrate air and missile defense capabilities with the integrated fires command in different ways depending on their capabilities and the situation. Figure 6-3 on page 6-16 illustrates a notional theater-level integrated fires command. 01 October 2022 FM 3-0 6-15 Chapter 6 Figure 6-3. Fires assets of a notional theater-level integrated fires command 6-77. The integrated fires command executes all fire support tasks for the supported command. The integrated fires command is designed to— z Exploit precision and massed fires through carefully integrated ground and air fire support. z Minimize the amount of time from target acquisition to engagement. 6-78. An integrated fires command and its component systems have key vulnerabilities that Army forces can target when supporting joint force operations. Like any military system, it requires sustainment capabilities and other support that Army forces can detect and attack. It has electromagnetic signatures that enable detection from friendly joint intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) from all domains. Enemy networks depend on C2 nodes Army forces can target. Perhaps most importantly, systems within an integrated fires command are comprised of land-based capabilities, including sensors, fires capabilities, and C2 nodes, all of which Army forces can attack. Defeating Antiaccess and Area Denial Approaches 6-79. Defeating enemy A2 and AD approaches requires continuous effort, best facilitated by forward-stationed forces positioned and protected before hostilities commence. This allows air and naval capabilities to stage closer to joint force targets, increasing the number of sorties they conduct. It allows Army forces and the rest of the forward-postured joint force to retain the terrain and facilities necessary for 6-16 FM 3-0 01 October 2022  Operations During Armed Conflict the introduction of additional friendly forces into theater. Preserving forward-stationed forces and retaining critical terrain inside a theater during the opening stages of a conflict provides depth and operational reach of the joint force. 6-80. A2 and AD are two different enemy approaches that the joint force typically expects to encounter. The joint force often considers them as part of the same challenge because retaining or regaining access to geographic areas requires a cohesive joint approach through all domains. Defeating A2 and AD requires a multidomain approach that includes Army forces retaining or seizing critical terrain to establish the depth necessary for defeating enemy forces. 6-81. Commanders defeat enemy A2 and AD approaches by employing multiple attacks through multiple domains. Complementary and reinforcing networked A2 and AD capabilities are resilient against a single line of attack. An enemy operating near its border is able to reconstitute forces and capabilities from homeland sanctuaries. Maneuvering the right capabilities within range to attack critical vulnerabilities might incur too much risk when all threat systems are operating at full capability. Therefore, leaders destroy or isolate the most exposed parts of the enemy’s systems over time, degrading them enough to support maneuver and create other opportunities to exploit. Destruction, isolation, and dislocation of various parts of an enemy integrated fires complex or air defense system can all contribute to its disintegration. 6-82. The main physical components of enemy A2 and AD systems are sensors, firing platforms, networks, C2, sustainment, and the forces securing them. Army forces attack these components as part of a joint operation that integrates all available capabilities. The JFLCC requests joint effects to support Army forces. The JFLCC may request space capabilities to detect enemy systems, offensive space operations for specific effects, and offensive cyberspace operations or electromagnetic capabilities to attack an enemy’s networks (See FM 3-12 for information on offensive cyberspace operations.) 6-83. The JFLCC is responsible for integrating joint capabilities and synchronizing their employment and effects to achieve convergence in order to enable subordinate maneuver. Achieving convergence is a key part of the approach to defeating enemy A2 and AD. 6-84. Army forces request space and cyberspace effects to disrupt A2 and AD C2 networks and create other effects. Army formations synchronize cyberspace and electromagnetic warfare effects against the enemy’s network, disrupting human and automated communications between sensors, firing units, and command posts. When Army planners identify a requirement, they request space and cyberspace effects according to unit procedures. They must understand the planning and preparation timelines required for the effects they are requesting. For example, initiating cyberspace effects takes time, and it should be part of initial OPLAN development and revisions. Many cyberspace effects can take months to generate, even though they can be delivered rapidly once developed. This is a challenge for Army echelons whose planning horizons during combat are measured in terms of hours and days. Therefore, it is important that Army leaders anticipate desired cyberspace effects well in advance of when they will need to integrate them. (See FM 3-12 for more information on requesting cyberspace effects. See FM 3-14 for more information on space operations.) 6-85. Army forces employ combinations of defeat mechanisms to attack components of an enemy’s A2 and AD system within the overall intent of degrading and ultimately defeating its ability to function cohesively. Subordinate echelons align their operations and objectives with conditions set by the land component command and act rapidly to exploit them. This combination of attacks and objectives ultimately defeats the enemy’s preferred operational approach and renders the enemy force vulnerable to follow-on operations by the JFC. Commanders use deliberate and dynamic targeting to create opportunities to attack the enemy and create redundancies for friendly forces. (See JP 3-60 and ATP 3-60 for more information on dynamic and deliberate targeting processes.) 6-86. Commanders must account for the possibility that enemy forces are able to regenerate some or all of their capabilities, in some cases by repositioning forces from elsewhere. Commanders and staffs continually assess enemy A2 and AD systems and maintain enough combat power to defeat enemy regeneration efforts to avoid surprise and preserve friendly freedom of action. Defeating enemy A2 and AD approaches typically enables joint forcible entry operations and the movement of friendly forces from aerial ports of debarkation and seaports of debarkation to their tactical assembly areas. 01 October 2022 FM 3-0 6-17 Chapter 6 JOINT FORCIBLE ENTRY OPERATIONS 6-87. Forcible entry is the seizing and holding of a military lodgment in the face of armed opposition or forcing access into a denied area to allow movement and maneuver to accomplish the mission (JP 3-18). A forcible entry operation may be the JFC’s opening move to seize the initiative. Forcible entry operations may be used to conduct operational movement and maneuver to attain positional advantage or as part of a deception. 6-88. Commanders design their forcible entry operations to seize and hold a lodgment against armed opposition. A lodgment is a designated area in a hostile or potentially hostile operational area that, when seized and held, makes the continuous landing of troops and materiel possible and provides maneuver space for subsequent operations (JP 3-18). This requires friendly forces to be combat loaded and prepared for immediate combat operations prior to their arrival on the ground in the lodgment area. A force defends the perimeter of a lodgment until it has sufficient forces to break out and conduct offensive operations. CONDUCT LARGE-SCALE COMBAT OPERATIONS 6-89. During large-scale combat operations, Army forces conduct offensive, defensive, and stability operations to defeat enemy forces. Defeat of enemy forces in close combat is normally required to achieve campaign objectives and national strategic goals after the commencement of hostilities. Divisions and corps are the formations central to the conduct of large-scale combat operations, as they are organized, trained, and equipped for the deep, rear, and support operations that enable subordinate success during close combat. The ability to prevail in ground combat is a decisive factor in breaking an enemy’s will to continue a conflict. Conflict resolution requires the Army to conduct sustained operations with unified action partners as long as necessary to achieve national objectives. Section II and Section III of chapter 6 describe how Army forces, as part of a joint force, conduct defensive and offensive operations during large-scale combat. SUSTAIN LARGE-SCALE COMBAT OPERATIONS 6-90. Large-scale combat operations require greater sustainment than other types of operations. Their high tempo and lethality significantly increase maintenance requirements and expenditure of supplies, ammunition, and equipment. Large-scale combat incurs the risk of mass casualties, which increase requirements for health service support, mortuary affairs, and large-scale personnel and equipment replacements. Large-scale combat operations demand a sustainment system to move and distribute a tremendous volume of supplies, personnel, and equipment. (See FM 4-0 for more information on sustainment.) 6-91. Army sustainment is a key enabler of the joint force on land. Army forces provide sustainment to other elements in the joint force according to the direction of the JFC. The JFC has the overall responsibility for sustainment throughout a theater, but the JFC headquarters executes many of its sustainment responsibilities through the TSC. When directed, Army sustainment capabilities provide the bulk of Army support to other services through executive agency, common-user logistics, lead Service, and other common sustainment resources. (See JP 4-0 for more information on joint sustainment. See ADP 4-0 for more information on the Army sustainment roles and responsibilities.) 6-92. Capabilities from other domains enable sustainment of Army forces. Air sustainment capabilities provide responsive sustainment for high priority requirements. Maritime-enabled sustainment supports large- scale requirements. Space- and cyberspace-enabled networks facilitate rapid communication of sustainment requirements and precise distribution. 6-93. Successful sustainment operations strike a balance between protecting sustainment capabilities and providing responsive support close to the forward line of troops. A well-planned and executed logistics operation permits flexibility, endurance, and application of combat power. Plans must anticipate and mitigate the risk posed by enemy forces detecting and attacking friendly sustainment capabilities. Sustainment formations pursue operations security, survivability, and protection with the same level of commitment as all other forces. While most rear and support operations are economy of force endeavors when allocating combat power in divisions and corps, the continuity and survivability of those operations are vital to deep and close operations. 6-18 FM 3-0 01 October 2022  Operations During Armed Conflict 6-94. Dispersion of assets and redundancy help protect sustainment formations. Dispersing sustainment formations makes it less likely that enemy long-range fires can destroy large quantities of material. Dispersion also creates flexibility, as several nodes can execute the sustainment concept without a single point of failure. However, dispersed sustainment operations complicate C2 and can be less efficient than a massed and centralized approach. Commanders balance the risk between dispersion and efficiency to minimize exposure to enemy fires while maintaining the ability to enable the supported formation’s tempo, endurance, and operational reach. 6-95. Commanders must plan for the possibility of heavy losses to personnel, supplies, and equipment. Even with continuous and effective sustainment support, units may rapidly become combat ineffective due to enemy action. Commanders at all levels must be prepared to conduct reconstitution efforts to return ineffective units to a level of effectiveness that allows the reconstituted unit to perform its future mission. Reconstitution is an operation that commanders plan and implement to restore units to a desired level of combat effectiveness commensurate with mission requirements and available resources (ATP 3-94.4). 6-96. Reconstitution is a significant combined arms operation, and the actions involved in reconstitution transcend normal day-to-day force sustainment actions. Reconstitution is a command decision, typically made two echelons above the unit being reconstituted, and it is conducted across all warfighting functions, using existing systems and units to accomplish. No resources exist solely to perform reconstitution. Reconstitution requires the full support of commanders and staffs at all echelons to achieve the necessary results commensurate with future mission success. Reconstitution efforts following a CBRN attack present even greater challenges. If units cannot decontaminate equipment, commanders must assess the risk to the mission and personnel in continuing operations with or without contaminated equipment. (See ATP 3-94.4 for more information on reconstitution.) 6-97. Maneuver commanders, at the combatant command, ASCC, field armies, corps, or division echelons, direct reconstitution as an operation. Command guidance should address the timing, location, degree to which the unit is reconstituted, and the training required before the reconstituted unit resumes operations. As a general consideration, the more degraded or combat ineffective a unit becomes, the greater the sustainment effort and amount of individual and collective training the unit will require to return it to combat effectiveness. (See FM 4-0 for more information on supplying reconstitution.) CONSOLIDATE GAINS DURING ARMED CONFLICT 6-98. Army forces consolidate gains for the joint force by making temporary advantages more enduring. Consolidating gains is not a phase, but rather an imperative that achieves the ultimate purpose of campaigns and operations. Army forces consolidate gains continuously during the conduct of operations, with varying emphasis by each echelon over time. Consolidating gains initially focuses on the exploitation of tactical success to ensure enemy forces cannot reconstitute any form of resistance in areas where they were initially defeated. A small unit consolidating on an objective and preparing for enemy counterattacks can be the first part of a larger effort to consolidate gains. 6-99. Unity of purpose for consolidating gains starts at the theater strategic level, where leaders plan and coordinate the resources necessary to achieve the JFC’s desired end state. They provide subordinate echelons a shared visualization of the security conditions necessary for the desired political or strategic end state. Achieving the desired end state generally requires a whole-of-government effort with unified action partners within and outside of the theater of operations. At the operational and tactical levels, land component commands and corps exploit division tactical success by maintaining contact with enemy remnants, bypassed forces, and the capabilities that enemy forces could militarize to protract the conflict. Friendly forces employ lethal and nonlethal capabilities to defeat remaining enemy forces in detail. Commanders direct information activities to reduce the will of those forces to resist and the local population to support them. 6-100. Conducting detainee operations plays a significant role in consolidating gains. Failure to secure defeated enemy forces quickly gives them the opportunity to break contact, recover the will to fight, and then reorganize resistance with whatever means remaining available to them. Capture of defeated enemy units and individuals separated or disorganized by friendly action is therefore critical. Large numbers of detainees may place a tremendous burden on operational forces as tactical forces divert combat power to process and secure them. Additionally, friendly forces must account for the detention of irregular forces and criminal actors that 01 October 2022 FM 3-0 6-19 Chapter 6 take advantage of a lack of civil security and civil control. Leaders assess the threat posed by irregular forces and criminal actors to determine whether or not these groups warrant detention by friendly forces. (See FM 3-63 for more information on detainee operations.) 6-101. Army forces must deliberately plan and prepare for consolidating gains because it is resource intensive and requires significant coordination with unified action partners. Planning for consolidating gains includes an assessment of operational risk, available combat power, changes to task organization, and additional assets required to achieve the desired end state. Assets might include— z Additional forces to provide area security tasks. z Host-nation, partner, and allied security forces. z ISR assets. z Engineers. z Military police. z Explosive ordnance disposal units. z Medical units. z Logistics units. z Civil affairs units. z Psychological operations units. z CBRN units. 6-102. Operations to consolidate gains can take many forms. These operations can include— z Offensive operations. Forces conduct offensive operations to complete the defeat of fixed or bypassed enemy forces. z Area security. Forces conduct security tasks to defeat enemy remnants, proxy or insurgent forces, and terrorists; control populations and key terrain; and secure routes, critical infrastructure, populations, and activities within an assigned area. z Stability operations. Forces execute minimum-essential stability operations tasks and ensure the provision of essential governmental services (in support of host nation or in place of the host nation), emergency infrastructure reconstruction, and humanitarian relief. These may include military governance. z Influence local and regional audiences. Commanders communicate credible messaging to specific audiences to prevent interference and generate support for operations or the host nation. z Defensive operations. Establish security from external threats. Commanders ensure sufficient combat power is employed to prevent physical disruption from threats across the various domains seeking to reverse or subvert the military gains made by friendly forces. z Detainee operations. Commanders and staffs must consider detainee operations prior to a conflict, during, and after large-scale combat operations have ceased. Detainee operations have long-lasting operational and strategic impacts. 6-103. Determining when and how to consolidate gains at the operational level and applying the necessary resources at the tactical level requires clear understanding about where to accept risk during an operation. Failure to consolidate gains generally leads to failure in achieving the desired end state, since it represents a failure to follow through on initial tactical successes and cedes the initiative to determined enemies seeking to prolong a conflict. Security is necessary for transition of responsibility to a legitimate governing authority and the successful completion of combat operations. Army forces integrate the capabilities of all unified action partners and synchronize their employment as they consolidate gains. 6-104. Although operations to consolidate gains may at times be economy of force efforts, they are critical to the long-term success of the joint force’s operation. Enemy forces will continue to challenge Army gains even after their forces are defeated to gain time for a favorable political settlement, set conditions for a protracted resistance, and alter the nature of the conflict to gain relative advantages. Enemy forces will execute information warfare, exploit cultural seams, challenge security, encourage competition for resources, promote conflicting narratives, support religious divides, and create alternatives to legitimate authority. As long as enemy forces have a will to resist, they will continue to attempt to undermine friendly gains. 6-20 FM 3-0 01 October 2022  Operations During Armed Conflict 6-105. Consolidating gains requires a significant commitment of combat power in addition to the combat power being employed to maintain tempo and pressure on enemy main body forces. When available, Army forces rely on host-nation forces better suited for operations that involve close interaction with local populations. When a host nation or an ally is unable to provide support, Army forces are responsible for consolidating gains. During large-scale combat operations, corps should plan for a division and a division should plan for a BCT to conduct operations with the purpose of consolidating gains. APPLYING DEFEAT MECHANISMS 6-106. As described in Chapter 2, defeat mechanisms are broad means by which commanders visualize and describe how they plan to defeat enemy forces. Defeat mechanisms have interactive and dynamic relationships constrained only by the resources available and imagination. Defeat mechanisms are most useful for commanders at the division-level and above to develop operational and strategic approaches to defeat enemy forces. For commanders at the brigade combat team-level and below, the defeat mechanisms may offer limited utility. Defeat mechanisms are not tactical tasks, and commanders at the lower tactical echelons do not develop or employ defeat or stability mechanisms. 6-107. Once developed, defeat mechanisms help commanders and staffs determine tactical options for defeating enemy forces in detail. Commanders translate defeat mechanisms into tactics and describe them in the concept of operations. Commanders use tactics to apply friendly capabilities against enemy forces in the most advantageous ways from as many domains as possible. Understanding how tactics support each of the defeat mechanisms improves tactical judgment. (See ADP 3-90 for more information on tactics.) DESTROY 6-108. Destruction and the threat of destruction lies at the core of all the defeat mechanisms and makes them compelling in a specific context. It is the defeat mechanism with the most enduring effect. A commander can achieve the destruction of smaller units with massed fires. However, destruction is the most resource-intensive outcome to achieve on a large scale. Commanders use destruction as a defeat mechanism when— z Enemy forces are not vulnerable to other means. z The tactical situation requires the use of overwhelming combat power. z The risk of loss is acceptable. z It is necessary to set conditions for other defeat mechanisms. 6-109. The physical effects of destruction have significant implications in the information and human dimensions. The destruction of enemy capabilities sends the message that enemy forces may be overmatched, and defeat is imminent. Casualties and the loss of life have negative psychological impacts that can either embolden or degrade enemy morale and will to fight. Typically, significant death and destruction degrade enemy morale and will. The joint force can sometimes achieve similar results with modest and precise applications of combat power. However, modest applications of combat power may prolong the joint force’s ability to achieve a decisive outcome. Excessive destruction of infrastructure can create a humanitarian crisis and create civilian casualties or suffering that undermines domestic and international support for military operations, so commanders must exercise judgment appropriate to each operational context. For moral, legal, and pragmatic reasons, commanders should take precautions to avoid death and destruction unnecessary for operational success, and they must always comply with the law of armed conflict. 6-110. At the operational level, physical destruction is rarely feasible or acceptable as the overarching defeat mechanism. Operational-level commanders choose elements of enemy forces that must be destroyed to enable the other defeat mechanisms. They synchronize Army, joint, and unified action partner capabilities to destroy critical components of enemy warfighting systems, such as sensors, long-range fires capabilities, C2 nodes, supply depots, and critical infrastructure. 6-111. At the tactical level, the lower the echelon the more central destruction is to its operation. Corps and divisions destroy enemy formations and critical capabilities to enable tactical success. They destroy enemy surveillance, reconnaissance, C2, fires, maneuver, protection, and sustainment capabilities. They destroy these capabilities to limit the effectiveness of enemy offensive or defensive schemes and preserve friendly 01 October 2022 FM 3-0 6-21 Chapter 6 combat power. At brigade echelons and below, units close with and destroy weapon systems, combat platforms, and personnel to render enemy forces incapable of resistance. DISLOCATE 6-112. Dislocate as a defeat mechanism renders an enemy’s position ineffective and, ideally, irrelevant. Dislocation can enable surprise. It forces enemy forces to react to the unexpected, and it imposes new dilemmas on enemy decision makers. If the dislocation that occurs is great enough, enemy forces may reconsider their risk assessment and conclude that they must surrender or reposition because their position no longer offers a reasonable expectation of success. More commonly, dislocation will force an enemy to make major changes to its dispositions and give up considerable ground. 6-113. The challenge of dislocation is that enemy leaders likely understand the value of the position desired by the friendly force, and they have made efforts to protect it. Therefore, to maneuver forces into positions that are so advantageous they render the enemy dispositions ineffective, commanders must often make use of deception and assume considerable risk. 6-114. Dislocation extends into the human and information dimensions. Combinations of physical maneuver and information activities can undermine the confidence of decision makers and their forces. Deception operations that enable surprise can present enemy forces with dilemmas they did not expect, and they may incite them to question other assumptions they made about friendly courses of action. For example, an enemy force preparing a defense that believes terrain and weather will protect its flank is surprised when friendly forces maneuver there during an attack. Not only is the geographic position and orientation of the enemy defense rendered ineffective, but so too is the confidence of the force. The force may begin to question its leadership while it adjusts its dispositions under the pressures of time and friendly contact. 6-115. At the operational level, commanders dislocate the enemy by posturing friendly forces in multiple assembly areas that do not make any single course of action obvious, and then they threaten maneuver along multiple axes of advance that exceed the enemy force’s ability to mass effects. While dislocation alone is unlikely to cause enemy forces to lose the will to fight, it creates favorable conditions for the combination of other defeat mechanisms. It can overwhelm enemy networked air defense and integrated fires systems, and it can enable a tempo of offensive operations from which enemy defenses cannot recover. 6-116. At the tactical level, vertical and horizontal envelopments and turning movements are common forms of maneuver that can precipitate dislocation. While these tactics can create rapid success, they may come with significant risk to rear areas and flanks, operational reach, and maintaining the momentum required to achieve objectives in accordance with a specific timeline. These tactics are most often successful against enemy units operating at or beyond the limit of their supporting capabilities, adjacent units, or reserves. Essentially, the friendly force assesses that it can achieve an advantageous position and exploit it faster than supporting enemy forces can react. The defeat of North Korean forces in 1950 illustrates the relationship between the defeat mechanisms of destroy and dislocate. 6-22 FM 3-0 01 October 2022  Operations During Armed Conflict Defeat of the North Korean People’s Army, September 1950 In early August 1950, the North Korean People’s Army (NKPA) advance had driven U.S. and Republic of Korea forces back into the southeastern portion of the Korean peninsula and threatened to push them into the sea. To stop the advance of the NKPA, U.S. and Republic of Korea forces held a defensive perimeter, approximately 140 miles wide, along the Naktong and Nam Rivers. Over the next few weeks, NKPA and friendly forces engaged in heavy fighting with attacks and counterattacks occurring along the entire perimeter, as the NKPA attempted to break through the defensive line. Throughout this period of the war, the NKPA held the initiative against U.S. and Republic of Korea forces, but by mid-September the initiative shifted to friendly forces. On 15 September, while United Nations and NKPA forces were decisively engaged in the south, the U.S. X Corps conducted a two-division amphibious landing at Inchon, on the west coast of Korea, north of Seoul. This operational-level turning movement, code-named OPERATION CHROMITE, occurred 150 miles behind enemy lines and caught the NKPA completely by surprise. In the following days, X Corps captured the Seoul-Suwon area and severed NKPA lines of communications. In conjunction with the amphibious landing, the U.S. Eighth Army launched a major counteroffensive against the twelve NKPA divisions opposing it in the south. With the support of United Nations’ air power, the Eighth Army penetrated the enemy’s forward defenses at multiple places and advanced northwest to link up with the X Corps. The combined actions by X Corps and Eighth Army left an estimated force of eight NKPA divisions isolated in southwestern Korea. Outflanked, unable to resupply or reinforce, and facing strong pressure in its close and rear areas, the NKPA began to collapse. Some NKPA units and individuals began to retreat, and their initial retreat quickly turned into a rout. Those NKPA units unable to retreat were destroyed or captured by friendly forces. By the end of September, the NKPA ceased to exist as an organized fighting force in South Korea. ISOLATE 6-117. Isolating an enemy force separates it from its physical, information, or human sources of support. It involves denying the enemy force access to resupply of personnel and equipment, access to intelligence, and shared understanding with adjacent units and higher echelon headquarters. Isolation denies enemy ground forces access to capabilities from other domains, forcing them to operate only in a limited area of the land domain with the resources they have on hand. 6-118. At the operational level, it is difficult to achieve complete isolation of an enemy force not already physically separated from the enemy main body. Even limited access to air, ground, and maritime lines of communications can sustain a prepared and determined enemy force for long periods. However, operational-level commands can employ capabilities to temporarily isolate units or critical capabilities from the rest of an enemy formation in one or more domains. This enables defeat of the enemy in detail, or it sets conditions for operations in other domains. Operational headquarters conduct activities that physically and psychologically isolate enemy leaders from their formations and other sources of support. This may include disrupting communications networks or access to space and cyberspace capabilities for a specific enemy echelon or conducting influence activities to lessen local support for national objectives. When an enemy force includes elements from different nations, it is possible to isolate one or more of them physically or by informational means. Exploiting differences in national aims or cultural divisions degrades the enemy’s overall effectiveness. 6-119. At the tactical level, physically blocking lines of communications, controlling key terrain, fixing supporting units, and encircling an enemy force are tactics that support the achievement of isolation. 01 October 2022 FM 3-0 6-23 Chapter 6 Electromagnetic attack capabilities help tactical leaders deny enemy forces access to reliable communications, and they can play a major role in creating psychological isolation. Destroying enemy command posts at one echelon can isolate that echelon’s subordinate formations from the next higher echelon, temporarily causing significant disruption to coherent C2. 6-120. While isolation on its own may not cause defeat, it increases the vulnerability of enemy forces to destruction, dislocation, and disintegration. It can also reduce the will to fight and increase the probability of uninformed decision making, which then amplifies the effects of the other defeat mechanisms. DISINTEGRATE 6-121. To disintegrate is to attack the cohesion of the whole and involves preventing components of an enemy formation or capability from fulfilling their role as part of the overall effort. Disintegration causes the formation or capability to function less effectively, creating vulnerabilities that the friendly force can exploit. Disintegration is most effective when created by a combination of the other three defeat mechanisms, and it includes both physical and cognitive effects on enemy forces. Disintegration is typically temporary and causes enemy forces to adapt. Creating more lasting effects requires forces that are ready to exploit the opportunity provided by disintegration. Commanders ensure they have sufficient combat power for exploitation, and they synchronize their exploitation efforts with the temporal effects of disintegration. 6-122. Disintegration sets conditions for achieving operational level objectives. Destruction, isolation, and dislocation all focus on relatively limited parts of a larger enemy force in specific geographic areas, whereas the effects of disintegration can have repercussions throughout the depth and breadth of the enemy’s echelons. Effective disintegration can cause collapse of coherent organized resistance for operationally significant periods. 6-123. To disintegrate an enemy formation or capability, commanders need only to disrupt or desynchronize enemy forces to the degree required for achieving the desired end state. In this sense, disintegration provides a measure of economy the other defeat mechanisms do not. Commanders do not need to create decisive effects at a single point in space, time, or domain. Even modest impacts on a combination of objectives across multiple domains can produce the necessary effects over time. Operational-Level Disintegration 6-124. Operational-level echelons disintegrate large enemy formations and their capabilities by attacking their individual components. Attacking operational-level C2 infrastructure impacts all enemy functions, and it is the most direct way to cause disintegration. Degrading enemy communications using a combination of lethal fires, electromagnetic attack, and joint-enabled offensive cyberspace operations disrupts an enemy force’s ability to synchronize operations. Deception compounds and accelerates the effects the other defeat mechanisms contribute towards disintegration. 6-125. Army forces disintegrate the components of integrated air defenses, long-range fires systems, and C2 networks to enable friendly freedom of action. The requirement to disintegrate these systems does not end with forcible entry operations or the start of offensive operations. Because these systems are resilient, disintegrating them relies on assessing them throughout the duration of a campaign. 6-126. Enemy systems that enable A2 and AD approaches have vulnerabilities that include sensors, communications links to firing platforms, and dependencies on space-based global navigation satellite systems and the electromagnetic spectrum. The data and processors that facilitate detection and fire mission transmission can be an exploitable vulnerability. Commanders can employ joint fires capabilities to destroy enemy long-range surface-to-surface and surface-to-air systems, which are difficult to replace. Friendly forces that have penetrated enemy defensive echelons can further disintegrate enemy integrated fires systems with direct fire or the threat of being overrun. While enemy forces reposition, their effectiveness is degraded. 6-127. Army forces can disintegrate enemy maneuver formations by converging joint capabilities in ways that interdict main supply routes, mobility corridors, and transportation infrastructure such as bridges, rail heads, airfields, ferries, and tunnels. These actions affect enemy repositioning and rapid reaction to friendly operations. Commanders can focus on the destruction of the best-trained and equipped enemy forces in a particular formation, which may disrupt the cohesion of the larger formation and lower its morale. 6-24 FM 3-0 01 October 2022  Operations During Armed Conflict 6-128. Enemy operations depend on sustainment systems in the same way friendly operations do. Destroying or disrupting supply depots, logistics convoys, fuel facilities, and sustainment units can render the enemy formations they sustain incapable of achieving their intended objectives. Even limited attacks on enemy sustainment capabilities can delay their operations, degrade their combat power, and make them vulnerable to early culmination. Tactical-Level Disintegration 6-129. Senior tactical echelons disintegrate enemy forces by attacking vulnerabilities that make them less able to employ a combined-arms approach to operations. Disrupting enemy communications with electromagnetic attacks or physical attacks against C2 nodes are means of doing this. Commanders use deception to create uncertainty and slow enemy decisions. They conduct reconnaissance and security operations and maintain operations security to prevent enemy forces from developing an accurate picture of friendly dispositions and courses of action. 6-130. Army forces employ forms of maneuver that avoid the enemy force’s main effort and enable friendly forces to decisively engage enemy forces without becoming fixed targets for long-range fires. Seeking or creating assailable flanks creates opportunities for exploitation in depth, forcing enemy forces to fight from unfavorable terrain or in directions they did not anticipate. Penetrations, envelopments, and turning movements are forms of maneuver well suited for doing this. Because enemy forces can anticipate the most favorable friendly forms of maneuver, their preparations focus on denying them. Therefore, friendly courses of action require sufficient combat power employed with a combination of stealth, speed, deception, and risk acceptance to be successful. 6-131. Disrupt, degrade, neutralize, reduce, isolate, delay, suppress, deny, fix, bypass, and deceive are examples of common tasks and effects that leaders combine to disintegrate enemy tactical echelons. Leaders use these tasks to limit enemy freedom of maneuver, impose friction on enemy operations, and disrupt enemy synchronization. 6-132. A combined-arms approach helps retain sufficient combat power and the mobility necessary to exploit the opportunities disintegration provides. The 1973 Arab-Israeli War illustrates the importance of a combined-arms approach to achieving disintegration. 01 October 2022 FM 3-0 6-25 Chapter 6 Disintegration of Egyptian Defense: 1973 Arab-Israeli War After the destruction of its air force and defeat of its ground forces by Israel in the 1967 Six Day War, Egypt reorganized its armed forces in preparation for what it saw as the inevitable next conflict. With help from the Soviet Union, it acquired a modern integrated air defense system and anti-tank guided missile systems to counter the Israeli air and armor forces that had been a large factor in its defeats in three previous wars. These new capabilities gave the Egyptian army the opportunity to surprise the potent Israeli Defense Forces air-ground team, which it exploited in 1973. In a well-planned and rehearsed operation, Egyptian forces rapidly assaulted across the Suez Canal, penetrated Israeli Defense Force defensive positions, and established a deliberate defense after a short advance. The Israeli counterattack with aircraft and an armored brigade was defeated with heavy losses from surface-to-air missiles and anti-tank guided missile systems, respectively. The losses were a shock to the previously undefeated Israeli air and armor forces, which needed to quickly reconstitute and adapt to a very different operational environment than 1967. The Israeli Army recognized that a mounted, tank-only approach was not going to defeat we