The fundamental purpose of the US Army is to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. It does this by deterring war and, if deterrence fails, by providing Army forces capable of achieving victory on and off the battlefield. To accomplish this mission, the Army must maintain trained and ready forces capable of rapid deployment. If deterrence fails, the Army must repel or defeat a military attack and end the conflict on terms favorable to US and allied interests. The ability to accomplish this is based upon sound planning—strategic, operational, and tactical—with support planning as a critical part of each.
DesignationFM 100-16
EditionMay 1995
StatusSuperseded
Pages215
FunctionDoctrine Philosophy
CollectionRecent Archive
Public domain (U.S. Government work)