Design for Military Operations - The British Military Doctrine.pdf - Dane - Galizur

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Cover: Detail from a painting by Michael Turner depicting

C Company's attack on Objective LEAD in the Gulf War. Reproduced

by permission of 1st Battalion The Staffordshire Regiment (Prince of

Wales's).

Back cover: Detail from 'The Duke of Wellington signalling the

general advance at Waterloo' by J A Atkinson, reproduced by

permission of the Trustees of the British Museum.

Army Code No 71451

Design for Military Operations -

The British Military Doctrine

Prepared under the direction of the Chief of the General Staff

1996

D/CGS/50/8

CONTENTS

Foreword

ONE

Introduction

1-1

TWO

The Purpose and Roles

2-1

of the Armed Forces

THREE

Modern Warfare

3-1

FOUR

Military Effectiveness

4-1

ANNEXA The Principles of War

B Mechanics of Command

C Forms of Manoeuvre

FOREWORD

When The British Military Doctrine (BMD) was first issued in 1989 it was breaking new ground - we had not

before sought to articulate doctrine at a level above the tactical. Seven years on, I am heartened to see that

professional interest amongst present day officers and NCOs has never been higher. And given that conflict is

becoming increasingly complex it is as well that the Army has made headway in appreciating how to tackle the

very varied situations it often now confronts. Whilst progress in the doctrinal field has probably been most

marked at the tactical level, the existence of a high level doctrine has influenced the way in which the Army thinks.

The explanation of fighting power, which is very much the essence of BMD, now lies at the root of much of what

we do. It forms the basis of all our tactical doctrine. It is the framework for the way in which we are about to

measure our military capability. And it is now used to explain the Armys reason for being as it is and needing to

act as it does.

But despite BMDs essentially enduring nature, it was always acknowledged that it would be necessary to re-issue

it at appropriate moments in the armys development. Now is such a moment, though the change required is not

great. The analysis of military effectiveness in Chapter 4, which is the principal part of BMD, has only required

minor updating, mainly to include a wider understanding of the manoeuvrist approach. It is worth reminding

ourselves why this is so, for at a time when many of the wide ranging tasks that come the Armys way do not

directly concern war fighting, some may express surprise that we are not re-defining military effectiveness mark-

edly. The answer is that Armies exist to fight and their structure, organization, equipment and thought processes

must reflect this fundamental fact. The essential nature of fighting power has not, therefore, altered.

Finally, let me lay some emphasis on the function of BMD which remains to establish the framework of under-

standing of the approach to warfare in order to provide the foundation for its practical application. The

important word is understanding. Little these days is predictable. Our people do so well in many parts of the

world because our officers and NCOs have an understanding of warfare that is broadly based and they are not

reliant, except where necessary, on rigid adherence to prescriptive rules. It is for this reason that BMD is, as

before, issued to all officers in the Army of the rank of Captain and above and it is essential that we all become

thoroughly conversant with it.

Chief of the General Staff

Design for Military Operations - The British Military Doctrine.pdf

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