Airland Battle Imperatives: Do They Apply to Future Contingency Operations?
Abstract
The 1982 publication of FM 100-5, Operations, established AirLand Battle as the operational and tactical doctrine of the U.S. Army. This doctrine, reaffirmed in the 1986 publication of the manual, is based on the principles of war, and uses tenets and imperatives of combat to reinforce its fundamental concepts. Although it was not solely developed for high-intensity, large unit warfare on the European continent, the manual does focus on that theater and its mission with the result that the keystone manual for U.S. Army doctrine concentrates on mid- to high-intensity combat in a general war situation based on the most likely and dangerous threat. Since the 1986 publication of FM 100-5, significant changes have taken place in the threat. The Soviet Union/Warsaw Pact are engaging in arms talks with NATO, and the Soviet Union is consolidating its resources within its republics to focus efforts on critical internal economic, social and political problems. While the threat in Europe lessens, the United States has found it necessary to conduct two significant contingency operations within the western hemisphere to eliminate threats to U.S. strategic interests in that region. These world changes have resulted in the most dangerous threat continuing to be the Soviet Union, but the most likely clearly becoming Third World operations detrimental to U.S. strategic interests.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 21, 1990
- Accession Number
- ADA234151
Entities
People
- Terry M. Peck
Organizations
- United States Army Command and General Staff College