Definitions and Doctrine: Operational Language and Understanding in Combined ArmsWarfare

摘要

This monograph examines the state of the Army's operational terms as seen throughits written doctrine. The monograph begins with a historical examination of the importance of terminology to the study of military art and science. A survey of theorists and military writers demonstrates the importance of precision to the foundation of military theory. The monograph starts with Field Manual 100-5, Operations, and considers its impact, as the Army's keystone doctrinal manual, on operational terms and their meanings. The intelligence, fire support, mobility I survivability, and maneuver battlefield operating systems provide the doctrinal data for the remainder of the study. Each term is considered within its functional area and then in relation to the other functional areas. Field Manual 101-5-1, Operational Terms and Symbols, is used as the Army wide standard. The monograph concludes with an example from Operation Desert Storm and determines that the Army's operational terms are not aligned in meaning across the battlefield operating systems. Additionally, three problems are identified in the use of operational terms and several possible solutions are suggested to help provide the Army with a more precise professional vocabulary.