Publications

19-16 - Commander and Staff Guide to the Battlefield Coordination Detachment Handbook
PDF | Published 03 Jun 2019
This handbook is designed to inform Army leaders of the BCD's functions, roles, and capabilities, along with best practices and lessons from numerous exercises, experiments, and named operations. These insights should prove invaluable to all Army leaders, newly assigned BCD personnel, and organizations that work with BCDs.

The Third Offset Strategy and the Army modernization priorities
PDF | Published 30 May 2019
For nearly two decades, the Army deferred modernization in order to support continuous combat operations all while the global security environment has grown more competitive and volatile. The Army must divest itself from a counterinsurgency and stability operations and prepare for the harsh realities of the operational environment associated with large-scale ground combat operations. Future conflicts will influence the character of war and operational tempo when confronting the 4+1 challenges (Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, and violent extremist organizations). The Army will need to synchronize capabilities quickly and decisively across domains, geographic boundaries, functions, and authorities to maintain freedom of maneuver inside an adversary's anti-access/area denial region. These capabilities will result from the Third Offset Strategy.

News From The Front: NATO Standardization Agreements (STANAG) for Commanders and Staff
PDF | Published 28 May 2019
This news from the front is the result of a CALL study analyzing recent exercises in Europe that determined common interoperability areas for improvement. When operating with a European based multinational force, what are the NATO Standardization Agreements (STANAG) for interoperability? After identifying areas for improvement, CALL conducted a review of NATO STANAGs and publications to address those issues. This publication informs the force of NATO STANAGs to consider enabling success in the next multinational exercise.

NFTF - Lessons in HQs Evolution for Commanders and Staff, Reorganizing a CJTF-OIR HQs
PDF | Published 06 May 2019
This News From the Front article provides a history of CJTF-OIR headquarters evolution and actions taken by the staff to plan, prepare, and execute organizational change from 1 December 2017 to 28 February 2018.

10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) the last CJFLCC Iraq-- A Series of Thoughts on Transitioning from Combat Operations to Enabling Civil Authority (Iraq) Newsletter
PDF | Published 03 May 2019
The 10th Mountain Division deployed its Headquarters to Iraq in February 2018 to assume the role of Combined Joint Forces Land Component Command. However, the Division deployed during a period of transition to a new Headquarters construct within the Combined Joint Task Force (CJTF), and found itself rapidly adjusting to a change of mission once on the ground. The Division staff was instrumental in shaping the new CJTF Headquarters and played key roles in understanding the operational environment and operationalizing the Reliable Partnership plan. The focus of the Division on working with the Iraqi Security Force (ISF) has been fundamental in its efforts to set the theater for Phase IV (stability) and Phase V (enable civil authority). This Newsletter focuses on the 10th Mountain Division’s experience dealing with the initial transition of the Army Headquarters and mission in Iraq.

90-6 The Musicians of Mars: A Story of Synchronization For The Company/Team Commander - Newsletter
PDF | Published 02 May 2019
“The Musicians of Mars: A Story of Synchronization for the Company/Team Commander” is the first volume in the four-volume series of CALL publications. The books draw their name from a quote from MG George S. Patton in 1941. He describes commanders on the battlefield as akin to conductors of fine orchestras: “There is still a tendency in each separate unit ... To be a one-handed puncher. By that I mean the rifleman wants to shoot, the tanker to charge, the artilleryman to fire ... That is not the way to win battles. If the band played a piece first with the piccolo, then with the brass horn, then with the clarinet, and then with the trumpet there would be a hell of a lot of noise but no music. To get harmony in music each instrument must support the others. To get harmony in battle, each weapon must support the other. Team play wins. You musicians of Mars ... Must come into the concert at the proper place and at the proper time.”

This volume tells a story of synchronization from the maneuver team commander's perspective. It is not intended to be the perfect solution, rather a story showing the critical tasks that most commonly cause units to not meet their training objectives. The characters and the battles are fictional, the story is not. The successes and failures are found everyday as units around the world train for their concert with Mars. Our intent is for the reader to finish with a better understanding of synchronization and how better to prepare themselves and their soldiers to become "Musicians of Mars."

News From The Front: Achieving Unity of Effort - A Case Study in Leadership
PDF | Published 02 May 2019
Military operations are fundamentally joint, interagency, and multinational (JIM) in character (multi-state in the case of National Guard units) requiring contributions from multiple JIM partners (or states). Achieving unity of effort in the execution of the mission will be critical to reducing both the risks of failure and the costs of success. This News From the Front examines the 35th Combat Aviation Brigade’s mission in support of Operation INHERENT RESOLVE and their trials and tribulations to achieve unity of effort.

GTA 30-04-001- Information Collection Rehearsal (IC RX)
PDF | Published 25 Apr 2019
This GTA provides information on when to conduct the information collection rehearsal and how to validate the information collection (IC) plan, the allocation of IC assets by phase, and the intelligence architecture by phase.

GTA 11-02-001 Retrans Mission Checklist
PDF | Published 25 Apr 2019
This GTA provides the reader with a checklist in order to accomplish a retransmission mission.

News From the Front - Operation Sentinel French Homeland Security Operation
PDF | Published 15 Apr 2019
This interview, conducted by the Center for Army Lessons Learned, captures the insights from Colonel Pierre-Olivier Marchand, French Army, who was commander of an artillery regiment in the 11th Airborne Brigade when tasked with leading one of the task forces responsible for conducting Operation Sentinel in Paris.

19-13 - Mission Command Training in Unified Land Operations FY18 Key Observations Bulletin
PDF | Published 25 Mar 2019
Mission Command Training Program (MCTP) trains Army functional/multi-functional/maneuver brigades, divisions, expeditionary sustainment commands (ESCs), corps, special operations units, and U.S. Air Force personnel in mission command and unified land operations. In accordance with the U.S. Army’s combat training center programs and the Chief of Staff of the Army’s training guidance, MCTP conducted five multi-echelon warfighter exercises (WFXs) and six brigade-level WFXs during fiscal year 2018 (FY18). Together, these exercises met the training objectives of more than 60 units. Additionally, MCTP worked closely with the Joint Staff J-7 and other training partners to infuse joint context within a WFX to properly stimulate a corps training audience in preparation for its future role as a joint task force (JTF).

NFTF - Multinational Interoperability: Tactical-level considerations in Afghanistan
PDF | Published 08 Mar 2019
This article highlights Task Force (TF) Manchu operations, activities, and actions focusing on deployment train-up, mission planning, and mission execution. The TF executed three lines of effort (LOEs) in support of Operation Freedom Sentinel: 1. Protecting the largest base in Afghanistan (Bagram Airfield), 2. Disrupting the enemy, and 3. Enabling Afghan partners. The seamless execution of these LOEs helped TF Manchu excel at multinational interoperability.

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