Doctrine 2015 Update

The 'Doctrine 2015' hierarchy

Recently, I was asked to review an author's draft of an emerging publication ... Army Techniques Publication 4-16 Movement Control.  The U.S. Army Combined Arms Support Command (CASCOM) is the preparing activity responsible for this publication.  It's an update and republication of Field Manual (FM) 4-01.30 Movement Control as an ATP.  Under the guidance of the Army's Doctrine 2015 concept, there will only be 50 FMs.  Those that didn't make the cut, if the material in them is still relevant, are to be converted to ATPs.  That's what CASCOM is doing with FM 4-01.30, converting it to ATP 4-16, updating a thing or two in its content in the process.

Although I judged it a reasonably well written draft, and that it contained no language inconsistent with emerging signal doctrine, I had to submit a critical comment on it, because of the timing of this draft's staffing to an Army-wide audience.  We are a good year now into the concept of Doctrine 2015, the SAMS-developed, CSA-approved, doctrine refinement concept the purpose of which is to streamline the Army's inventory of doctrinal publications and put more relevant doctrine into the hands of Soldiers faster.  Still, there are a lot of people who don't understand the transformation.  I've used this blog to write about Doctrine 2015 before.  I still get questions, like "What's an ADP?"  Which is higher, and FM or an ADRP?  "Do we still have ATTPs? or just ATPs?"   

TRADOC Regulation 25-36, just for a bit of a refresher, covers the TRADOC doctrinal literature program. It is the primary regulation for all matters concerning Army doctrine. It was recently republished on 15 June 2012.  The Doctrine 2015 concept is described in TR 25-36. It establishes a hierarchy of doctrinal publications. Army Doctrinal Publications (ADPs) are the highest, followed by Army Doctrinal Reference Publications (ADRPs), then Field Manuals (FMs), and, finally, Army Techniques Publications (ATPs). 

So my criticism of the author's draft of ATP 4-16 Movement Control is that CASCOM should not be trying to put this doctrine out on the street now.  Following the hierarchy established in the regulation, the higher-level doctrine that establishes a need for a publication like 4-16 should be published first.  That higher-level doctrine would be the ADP and ADRP on the warfighting function of sustainment.  Then, according to the Doctrine 2015 plan, there is to be an FM on sustainment operations.  All of these are in the 4-series: ADP/ADRP 4-0, then FM 4-0.  After that, any supporting doctrine that needs to be published would take the form of an ATP.

I based my comment on one sentence in the introduction, where the author wrote, "This publication applies to the range of military operations and supports … ADP 4.0 Sustainment.”

The first part of my comment was that ... 

"The staffing of ATP 4-16 at this time is premature.  Reviewers cannot possibly determine whether this ATP 'supports' ADP 4-0, since ADP 4-0 has not yet been published.  Moreover, ADRP 4-0 and FM 4-0—have also not been published.  It is therefore not possible to accurately assess ATP 4-16’s scope, relevance, or doctrinal accuracy."  

The second part was that, in the introduction, the author declared that ... 

“the purpose for the conversion and update of this manual is to comply with the Army‘s Doctrine 2015 initiative …” 

The upshot here is that, if it is CASCOM’s purpose is to comply with Doctrine 2015 guidance, then ADP 4-0, ADRP 4-0, and FM 4-0 should be developed and published first.  Why is CASCOM asking the wider Army audience to review an ATP on a lower-level concept or principle of operations--movement control--when it hasn't yet laid the foundation of the higher-level concepts or principles of Sustainment?

According to TRADOC Regulation 25-36, development of ATPs is of lower priority than the development of higher level doctrine publications. A doctrine hierarchy is established by the regulation. That hierarchy, displayed in Figure 3-1, clearly marks ATPs as having the lowest developmental priority.  

[The hierarchy:  (1) ADPs; (2) ADRPs; (3) FMs; (4) ATPs]. 

Paragraph 3-5 of the regulation declares that the purpose of the hierarchical arrangement of doctrinal publications is to “influence doctrine proponents’ developmental priorities.” Moreover, USACAC’s Doctrine 2015 guidance has consistently set the developmental deadline for ATPs at 31 Dec 2015—two years beyond the suspense for the development or conversion of FMs, and three years beyond the same for ADPs/ADRPs. According to the Doctrine 2015 schedule, the current FM 4-01.30 Movement Control (the publication this ATP is to replace), will remain valid doctrine for more than three more years. What the CASCOM should be developing and staffing to an Army-wide audience, first, is its higher-level sustainment doctrine (ADP 4-0; ADRP 4-0; FM 4-0) and then its ATP on movement control.