Agility: A Key to the Operational Art

Abstract : FM 100-5 identifies four, fundamental tenets necessary for successful implementation of AirLand Battle doctrine. These tenets are initiative, agility, depth, and synchronization. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relative importance of the AirLand tenet of agility to the practice of both the operational level of war and the future battlefield to establish a general context for further discussion and analysis of the AirLand Battle tenets. The tenet of agility will then be analyzed in an effort to define it and establish its relationship to each of the other tenets within the context of the operational level of war. This portion of the study will include a brief analysis of each of the four tenets and a look at the emphasis placed upon them by the U.S. Army within its doctrine and in practice in its warfighting.