FM-3-81 Maneuver Enhancement Brigade Download
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Chapter 1 1-16 FM 3-81 09 November 2021 unrestricted movement of resources to allow greater freedom of action of forces in the close area and units shaping the deep area. ARMY OPERATIONS 1-69. The United States Army exists to provide dominant landpower for the joint force and the nation. Landpower is the ability—by threat, force, or occupation—to gain, sustain, and exploit control over land, resources, and people (see ADP 3-0). To maintain dominant landpower for the joint force, ARFOR conduct multidomain operations. During multidomain operations, ARFOR (as part of a joint and multinational team) employ multidomain capabilities throughout the extended battlefield to enable joint freedom of action, create and exploit the positions of relative advantage necessary for defeating enemy forces, and consolidate gains to enable enduring strategic outcomes. 1-70. Successful operations require ARFOR to seize, retain, and exploit the initiative by forcing an enemy to respond to friendly action. By presenting multiple dilemmas to an enemy, commanders force the enemy to react continuously until the enemy is finally driven into untenable positions. Seizing the initiative pressures enemy commanders into abandoning their preferred options and making mistakes. Enemy mistakes allow friendly forces to seize opportunities and create new avenues for exploitation. Throughout operations, commanders focus combat power to defeat enemy forces, protect populations and infrastructure, and consolidate gains to retain the initiative within the overall purpose of an operation. 1-71. Operations to shape consist of various long-term military engagements; security cooperation; and deterrence missions, tasks, and actions intended to assure friends, build partner capacity and capability, and promote regional stability. Operations to shape typically occur in support of the geographic combatant commander’s theater campaign plan or the theater security cooperation plan. These operations help counter actions by adversaries that challenge the stability of a nation or region contrary to U.S. interests. Shaping activities are continuous within an area of responsibility. MEB commanders and staffs must perform detailed mission analysis to identify the mission requirements and specific capabilities needed to accomplish MEB missions. The MEB must synchronize, integrate, and organize all organic and task-organized capabilities and resources throughout operations to shape and protect U.S. interests and to build partner capacity and partnerships. 1-72. Operations to shape include unit home station activities, including maintaining operational readiness, training, and contingency planning. Combined exercises and training, military exchange programs, and foreign military member attendance at Army schools are examples of home-station shaping activities. At home stations, the MEB participates in mission readiness exercises that enable commanders to generate, project, and preserve combat power during training and deployment tasks that are associated with readiness requirements. 1-73. The purpose of operations is to prevent and deter adversary actions contrary to U.S. interests. They are typically conducted in response to activities that threaten partners and allies and require the deployment or repositioning of credible forces in a theater to demonstrate the willingness to fight if deterrence fails. These operations are characterized by actions to protect friendly forces, critical capabilities, assets, and activities and indicate the intent to execute subsequent phases of a planned operation. 1-74. Army operations in large-scale combat converge capabilities from all domains to generate effects on land. These operations include airborne and air assault operations, AMD, fires, aviation, cyberspace electromagnetic activities, information operations, space operations, military deception, and information collection. Large-scale combat operations such as these entail significant operational risk, synchronization, capabilities convergence, and high operating tempo. 1-75. During large-scale combat operations, ARFOR focus on the defeat and destruction of enemy ground forces as part of the joint team. ARFOR close with and destroy enemy forces in any terrain, exploit success, and break their opponent’s will to resist. ARFOR attack, defend, conduct stability tasks, and consolidate gains to attain national objectives. Divisions and corps are the formations central to the conduct of large- scale combat operations and are organized, trained, and equipped to enable subordinate organizations.