FM 5-0 ARMY PLANNING AND ORDERS PRODUCTION

US Army Field Manual on CD in Adobe Acrobat (.PDF) format.

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What's inside:

Doctrine provides a military organization with unity of effort and a common philosophy, language, and purpose. FM 5-0 is the Army’s keystone manual for planning operations. It is the Army’s doctrinal source for problem solving, the military decision making process (MDMP), troop leading procedures (TLP), and formats for Army plans and orders.

FM 5-0 promotes a common understanding of the fundamentals of planning and provides the foundation for developing tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTP) for planning in all Army publications. It provides a doctrinal approach to decision making that helps commanders and their staffs examine a situation, reach logical conclusions, and make informed decisions. FM 5-0 is the common reference for planning within the Army education system.

FM 5-0 includes MDMP and formats for plans, orders, and briefings formerly found in FM 101-5. Staff responsibilities, staff officer duties during preparation for and execution of operations, rehearsals, information management, and liaison duties formerly addressed in FM 101-5, are now covered in FM 6-0.

Chapter 1 describes the Army’s approach to planning and discusses the nature of plans and planning activities. Chapter 2 discusses Army problem solving in general terms and prescribes the steps of the Army problem solving process. Chapter 3 explains the MDMP. Chapter 4 discusses TLP. The appendixes are planning tools to assist commanders and staffs in planning, decision making, orders production, and military briefings.

FM 5-0 applies to all Army leaders. Chapters 1 and 2 contain doctrine and TTP that apply to planning and solving problems at all echelons throughout the institutional and field Army. The primary audience for Chapter 3 is battalionthrough corps-level commanders, leaders, and staffs. Chapter 4 applies to leaders and Soldiers at company-level and below. The appendices support Chapters 2 through 4.

Doctrine in FM 5-0 applies across the spectrum of conflict (peacetime military engagement, smaller-scale contingencies, and major theater war), and the range of operations (offense, defense, stability, and support). FM 5-0 does not detail tactical missions or the use of forces during operations. The examples provided are guides only, showing general application procedures.

Army headquarters serving as the headquarters of a joint force land component or joint task force should refer to JP 5-0 and other joint planning publications. Additionally, Army service component commands, and headquarters serving as ARFOR headquarters, should also refer to FM 100-7 for Army-specific, operational-level planning considerations.

Introduction

Modern military staff procedures can be traced back to the formation of the Prussian general staff under General Helmuth von Moltke in the late nineteenth century. As warfare became more complex, doctrine on planning and decision making evolved in an effort to help commanders make decisions better and faster than their opponents. While the beginning of a modern staff system in the US Army emerged during the American Civil War (1861-1865), doctrine regarding staff procedures, decision making, and planning was limited until World War I.

Not until the 1924 publication of Field Service Regulations did Army doctrine show formatted orders with annexes, maps, and tables. Even then, doctrine only alluded to the requirement for leaders to make an “estimate of the situation” and follow a deliberate process that culminated in a decision.

In 1932, the first manual for staff officers was published under authority of General (later General of the Army) Douglas MacArthur. The 1932 Staff Officer’s Field Manual provided the US Army’s first comprehensive command and staff doctrine on which today’s staff procedures are based. The 1932 manual described staff functions, explained a five-step commander’s estimate process, and provided detailed formats for operation orders.

In August 1940, the first FM 101-5—Staff Officer’s Field Manual, The Staff and Combat Orders—was published. The doctrine established was broader in scope and depth than that of the 1932 manual. It defined terms and standardized graphics, and discussed commander and staff responsibilities more precisely. It guided Army commanders and staffs throughout World War II and for almost five years thereafter.

FM 101-5 was revised five times between 1940 and 1984. In May 1997, 13 years after its last revision, FM 101-5, then titled Staff Organization and Operations, was republished. It focused on command and staff relationships, staff organizations, staff officer responsibilities, the military decision making process, and the mechanics of producing orders. Additionally, it added doctrine on information management and two central concepts of Army command and control (C2) doctrine: the commander’s intent and commander’s critical information requirements (CCIR).

FM 5-0 marks the sixth revision of FM 101-5 since it was first published. Together, FM 5-0 and FM 6-0, replace FM 101-5. FM 5-0 now addresses only planning. FM 6-0 addresses C2, staff organization and operations, the duties of and relationship between the commander and staff, information management, rehearsals, and liaison. This organization mirrors a similar distinction made in joint doctrine.

The doctrine FM 5-0 prescribes is built on two central precepts: (1) commanders are responsible for planning and (2) effective planning incorporates the concept of mission command.

Commanders are responsible for planning. Their knowledge, experience, and personality—along with how they interact with their staff and units—drives the planning process. While staffs complete much of the detailed analysis and preparations of plans and orders, commanders play a central role in planning through their commander’s intent, CCIR, and planning guidance. These guide the activities of the staff and subordinate commanders. Staffs assist commanders with the coordination and detailed analysis necessary to convert the commander’s intent, CCIR, and planning guidance into a plan or order.

Effective planning incorporates the concept of mission command. Mission command, the Army’s preferred C2 concept, concentrates on the objective of an operation and not on every detail of how to achieve that objective (see FM 6-0). Successful mission command results in subordinate leaders at all echelons exercising disciplined initiative within the commander’s intent. Staffs support mission command when they produce mission orders. Mission orders is a technique for completing combat orders. This allows subordinates maximum freedom of planning and action to accomplish missions and leaves the “how” of mission accomplishment to the subordinates (FM 6-0). FM 5-0 applies this technique to planning and describes how to produce mission orders.

To understand FM 5-0, readers must understand the fundamentals of full spectrum operations described in FM 3-0 and the art of tactics described in FM 3- 90. They must discern how the activities described in FM 3-07 carry over and affect offensive and defensive operations. They must recognize the operations process (plan, prepare, execute, and assess) described in FM 6-0, and understand how mission command, commander’s visualization, and exercising C2 influence planning. FM 5-0 also refers to joint publications. Reviewing these joint publications stimulates understanding of how Army planning supports and complements joint planning.

Many of the examples provided are based on offensive and defensive operations. Tactical planning for stability operations and support operations is performed in a similar manner to offensive and defensive operations. However, applying combat power in offensive and defensive operations is different than in stability operations and support operations. Planning horizons may be longer and the emphasis on civil considerations greater. FM 3-07 provides planning considerations for stability and support operations.

FM 5-0 expands Army planning doctrine. To plan effectively, planners and commanders must appreciate the nature of planning and plans. Planners must understand the purpose, environment, and characteristics of the planning process. Knowledge of FM 5-0 forms the basis for this understanding.

PAGES: 328

PUBLICATION DATE: JANUARY, 2005

THIS ITEM IS AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD AND CD-ROM DELIVERY