Doctrine plays a big role in human and procedural interoperability in this military effort, said Richard Creed, Jr., director, Combined Arms Doctrine Directorate, Mission Command Center of Excellence, Combined Arms Center, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The West Point graduate served 32 years as an armor officer and strategist.<\/p>\n
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<\/a> Creed said because of this, his directorate is continuously updating U.S. Army doctrine that focuses on multidomain operations, combined arms, including space, cyber, electronic warfare, air defense and more. This, in turn, shapes the joint doctrine for the U.S. military and the NATO doctrine. The doctrines influence operations and training.<\/p>\n And with the proliferation of technology at a faster and faster pace, the operational environment is changing, which influences doctrine, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe really started updating Army doctrine in 2014, thinking about how the Army is going to fight differently,\u201d Creed said. \u201cThere was an initial multidomain battle concept and futures concept developed and socialized across the Army from top to bottom. We published the concept in 2018.\u201d<\/p>\n He said as the concept develops into doctrine, the Combined Arms Doctrine Directorate worked with joint force experts to ensure the language was in a form people use every day in terms of training, developing leaders and in determining materiel requirements.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you don\u2019t know how you\u2019re going to fight, how do you know what you want to fight with?\u201d Creed said.<\/p>\n Though the updated doctrine published in 2022, the war in the Ukraine kicked off, and the Army, along with the other U.S. military service branches, NATO and its allies saw an evolution of warfare.<\/p>\n \u201cThe war in Ukraine evolved and other things were going on in the world. The Army was focused globally,\u201d Creed said. \u201cWe published an updated version of FM30 March 2025 and since then, we\u2019ve been taking notes and have realized that there\u2019s even more things we need to change the next time around, and it will not take three years before we do it again.\u201d<\/p>\n He said one of those steps is as NATO updates its doctrine, Creed\u2019s team will emphasize the importance of the land forces portion being congruent with the Army\u2019s operational concept.<\/p>\n \u201cWe work together and train together every day over here in Europe,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have meetings all year, discussing how we\u2019re going to fight better together. Let\u2019s use the same words and make sure those words have the same meaning.\u201d<\/p>\n The current need on the battlefield is a bridge between existing systems to link them together for more of a multidomain, legacy world of systems, said Manheim.<\/p>\n \u201cWe also need to massively produce ammunition and upgrade legacy systems,\u201d he said. \u201cSoftware-defined defense may be the future vision. We need speed, interoperability and combat mass communications integrated across the alliance.\u201d<\/p>\n Operations<\/strong><\/p>\n Carpenter leads a theater asset that works with the other U.S. military services, NATO and coalition partners.<\/p>\n \u201cAs the multidomain command in Europe, we tackle some very complex problems,\u201d he said. \u201cWithin the larger global anti-access aerial denial effort, that\u2019s defeating adversary integrated air missile defense as well as their integrated fires complex capabilities. It\u2019s an extreme challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n He said repetitive exercises oriented exclusively on warfighting and regional plans allow the Soldiers in his command to develop leadership, expertise and build the architecture needed to win the fight. It also helps them harvest theater and national intelligence, conduct target development, maintain custody of targets and work with interagency partners to layer effects for increased success.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to find, fix and finish for the theater,\u201d Carpenter said. \u201cWe establish convergence in depth. If we get it right, we create windows of opportunities for the Air Force from the ground, and we create opportunities for the alliance with follow-on operations to create an experience for our adversary that completely overwhelms them. Repetition breeds mastery.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\n Col. Richard Creed (center), U.S. Army Combined Arms Doctrine Directorate, briefs general officers attending the Army Strategic Education Program-Command (ASEP-C) course at the Lewis and Clark Center, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, Jan. 25, 2021. The ASEP-C course is designed for general officers selected for one and two star command assignments to develop and enhance their leadership capabilities.
\n (Photo Credit: Audrey Chappell)<\/span>
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