Army Doctrine Publication 3-0: An Opportunity to Meet the Challenges of the Future

In 2001, the U.S. Army entered a period of sustained conflict that continues to this day. Through successes and hardships, in multiple theaters, the Army has conducted and continues to conduct operations in defense of the Nation. The past 11 years have been intense in terms of demands placed on soldiers and leaders as well as in efforts to capture key changes to doctrine resulting from changes in operational environments. In fact, since 2001, the Army has published four versions of its capstone doctrine on operations. In a sense, this is a statement of recognition that change is constant, and Army doctrine needs to keep pace with change. In dynamic operational environments, what may be true today may not be true tomorrow. Thus, the Army has an opportunity to develop doctrine that fulfills the 38th CSA Marching Orders by defining what Army forces do and how they should best be organized.4 Army Doctrine Publication ADP 3-0, Unified Land Operations, and its associated Army Doctrine Reference Publication ADRP provide direction for how the Army will operate in the future. This article discusses the development process of ADP 3-0 to inform the Army and responds to questions and concerns about the rationale for the various conventions used in the publication.