What is the history of FM 3-0, Operations, the Army’s premier doctrinal manual?

Until 1905, the Army had no official doctrine. After the Spanish-American War of 1898, a number of reforms that included Army Schools and a General Staff were instituted to modernize the Army. Included in these reforms was an attempt to codify the way the Army was to fight and a combined arms organization. The First Field Service Regulations (FSR) were published in 1905 and detailed the way the Army was to be organized and how it would fight. Other editions to the FSR were published in 1910 and 1913. Unfortunately, these manuals only addressed combat in the United States and didn’t address the realities of combat on the Western Front in Europe in World War I. During that conflict the U.S. Army had to rely on doctrine copied from British manuals and translated from the French.

Until 1905, the Army had no official doctrine. After the Spanish-American War of 1898, a number of reforms that included Army Schools and a General Staff were instituted to modernize the Army. Included in these reforms was an attempt to codify the way the Army was to fight and a combined arms organization. The First Field Service Regulations (FSR) were published in 1905 and detailed the way the Army was to be organized and how it would fight. Other editions to the FSR were published in 1910 and 1913. Unfortunately, these manuals only addressed combat in the United States and didn’t address the realities of combat on the Western Front in Europe in World War I. During that conflict the U.S. Army had to rely on doctrine copied from British manuals and translated from the French.

In 1923, five years after the war, a comprehensive FSR was published which addressed the complexities of modern warfare. Regrettably this was the last doctrinal manual to be published for 16 years. Because of the changes in military technology that occurred in the 1920s and 1930s, the Office of the Chief of Staff published a tentative manual in 1939. It was titled FM 100-5, Operations, a title its successors would retain until 1993. After the fall of France after 6 weeks of armored warfare in 1940, a new manual was published in 1941. It was very flawed and was replaced by a new edition in 1944 that realistically addressed most of the issues of modern warfare. After World War II, editions followed in 1949 which carried the Army through the Korean War. The 1954 edition was the last of the World War II derivatives. The 1962 and 1968 editions recognized the utility of the helicopter and its effect on military operations. In addition it addressed the Army’s role in various alliances like the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) around the world. These took the Army through the Vietnam War.

When U.S. Army active involvement in Vietnam ceased in 1973, the Army faced a series of new challenges. The Arab-Israeli War of 1973 demonstrated a new lethal battlefield and the Warsaw Pact headed by the Soviet Union posed an increased threat to Europe. The newly created TRADOC command by GEN William DePuy published a new edition of FM 100-5, Operations, in 1976. The new manual concentrated on the tactical battle in Europe. The narrow focus of the manual caused considerable controversy. In 1982, a new FM 100-5 was published. It envisioned a much broader view of the battlefield that was christened AirLand Battle. This manual was revised in 1986, but neither edition addressed the problems expeditionary or counter-insurgency warfare. Troubles in Grenada, Panama and Somalia revealed the need for addressing counter-insurgency issues. In addition, the fall of the Soviet Union and the withdrawal of units from Europe changed the Army from a forward-based army to a deployment based one. A new addition of FM 100-5 published in 1993 addressed many of these issues.

In 2001, the Army adopted the joint numbering system as a reflection of the joint operation environment and published a new edition of the Operations manual, FM 3-0 which addressed the full spectrum of war and operations other than war such as humanitarian relief. It 2008 a revised edition focusing on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq appeared in 2008.

The editions of the FSR, FM 100-5 and FM 3-0 are listed below in chronological order:

• General Staff, Field Service Regulations, United States Army 1905, Washington, DC, Government Printing Office, 1905, War Department Document No. 241
• Office of the Chief of Staff, Field Service Regulations, United States Army 1910, Washington, DC, Government Printing Office, 1910, War Department Document No. 363
• Office of the Chief of Staff, Field Service Regulations, United States Army 1913, Washington, DC, Government Printing Office, 1913, War Department Document No. 363
• Office of the Chief of Staff, Field Service Regulations, United States Army 1923, Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1924, War Department Document No. 1120
• Office of the Chief of Staff, FM 100-5, Tentative Field Service Regulations 1939, Operations, Washington, United States Government Printing Office, 1939
• Chief of Staff, FM 100-5,Field Service Regulations 1941, Operations, Washington, United States Government Printing Office, 1941
• War Department, FM 100-5,Field Service Regulations 1944, Operations, Washington, United States Government Printing Office, 1944
• Department of the Army, FM 100-5,Field Service Regulations 1949, Operations, Washington, United States Government Printing Office, 1949
• Department of the Army, FM 100-5,Field Service Regulations 1954, Operations, Washington, United States Government Printing Office, 1954
• Department of the Army, FM 100-5,Field Service Regulations 1962, Operations, Washington, United States Government Printing Office, 1962
• Department of the Army, FM 100-5, Field Service Regulations 1968, Operations or Army Forces in the Field,Washington, United States Government Printing Office, 1968
• Headquarters, Department of the Army, Field Manual 100-5, Operations, Washington, DC, Department of the Army,1976
• Headquarters, Department of the Army, Field Manual 100-5, Operations, Washington, DC, Department of the Army,1982
• Headquarters, Department of the Army, Field Manual 100-5, Operations, Washington, DC, Department of the Army,1986
• Headquarters, Department of the Army, Field Manual 100-5, Operations, Washington, DC, Department of the Army,1993
• Headquarters, Department of the Army, Field Manual 3-0, Operations, Washington, DC, Department of the Army, 2001
• Headquarters, Department of the Army, Field Manual 3-0, Operations, Washington, DC, Department of the Army, 2008

What does the term DOTLMS mean and what is its origin?

DTLOMPF is an acronym that stands for “Doctrine, Training, Leader Development, Organizational, Materiel, Personnel and Facilities”. DTLOMPF evolved from an earlier Acronym DOTLMS that stood for “Doctrine, Organization, Training, Leader Development, Materiel, and Soldiers.” The term DOTLMS is derived from an initiative of General Vuono’s while CSA, although the idea began taking shape while he was TRADOC commander. His aim was to define TRADOC’s, and presumably the Army’s, mission in broad but specific terms. What came to be known as the “Six Imperatives” were, put simply, “Doctrine, Organization, Training, Leader Development, Materiel, and Soldiers,” or DOTLMS for short.

DOTLMS seems to have appeared first in the Army Green Book of October 1987, pp. 20-28, but the functions were not yet labeled “Imperatives.” They appeared once again in published form in Army Focus of June 1989, but were labeled “Priorities” on that occasion. Vuono laid out what he termed his “Six Imperatives” in late 1989 in addressing the AUSA Annual Luncheon at the annual meeting in October 1989. The December 1989 issue of Army carried the text. The Imperatives and the acronym got much play during the ill-fated Modern LA Maneuvers and remained in use thereafter. After more than a decade, additional imperatives were added. The pamphlet Joint Vision 2020, published in 2000 included a discussion of DOTML-PF that matched the Army’s approach. This became DTLOMPF which has been in use since 2001.