FM 100-5 Operations - Survival Ebooks Military Manuals Survival ...

WWW.SURVIVALEBOOKS.COMOPERATIONScoordination. Most importantly, these operations preventthe enemy from impacting on friendly actions.Commanders retain reserves and adjust their main effortsto exploit tactical opportunities and carry the fightinto the depths of the enemy’s formations or defenses.At the same time, commanders guard their own freedomof action by protecting their forces and the meansneeded to sustain combat operations.In operations other than war, depth extends activitiesin time, space, resources, and purpose to affectthe environment and the conditions that are to be resolved.Seldom are short-term situations conclusive.Commanders envision simultaneous activities and sequentialstages that lead to a long-term outcome. Forexample, to solve the problem of feeding the localpopulation, commanders may set up kitchens and distributefood in the first stage, assist in the reestablishmentof commercial food distribution points in thesecond stage, and finally assist in improving road networksas the local government regains the ability toprovide a steady supply of food. Similarly, peacekeepingoperations may begin with an initial objective ofobserving a cease-fire, then move to support of an economicrecovery program, and finally conclude in supportof an international agency program that results incultural assimilation and the resolution of the underlyingconflict. Just as in war, commanders anticipatefuture situations and decide how to coordinateactivities in depth that will achieve the desired endstate.SynchronizationSynchronization is arranging activities in time andspace to mass at the decisive point. For example, integratingthe activities of intelligence, logistics, andfire support with maneuver leads to synchronized operations.It means that the desired effect is achievedby arranging activities in time and space to gain thateffect.Synchronization includes, but is not limited to, themassed effects of combat power at the point of decision.Some of the activities that commanders synchronizein an operation, such as jamming enemy communications,suppressing enemy air defenses, and shiftingreserves, might occur before the decisive moment.They may take place at locations distant from one another.Though separated in time and space, these activitiesmust be well synchronized if their combinedeffects are to be felt at the decisive time and place.Synchronization seeks to gain overwhelming combatpower.Attacking commanders have synchronized theirsupporting fires with maneuver when they have shiftedan artillery strike to a target series of enemy direct firesystems while maneuvering forces rapidly to theenemy’s flanks and rear. Or, on a larger scale, commandershave synchronized their main and supportingattacks when the supporting attack takes place atprecisely the right time and place to divert enemyforces and fires from the main effort as they strike theenemy. An operational commander has synchronizedtwo major operations if one diverts the attention ofthe bulk of enemy forces, thus uncovering a key objectivefor decisive attack by the other.Synchronization usually requires explicit coordinationamong the various units and activities participatingin any operation. By itself, however, such coordinationis no guarantee of synchronization unlesscommanders first visualize the consequences to be producedand how they sequence activities to producethem. Staffs must understand their commander’s intentsince they make a large part of the synchronizationplan happen. Synchronization thus takes place firstin the minds of commanders and then in the actualplanning and coordination of movements, fires, andsupporting activities. Rehearsals are key to successfulexecution of synchronized operations.In a force-projection army, the ability to synchronizeoperations becomes paramount. When forces arenot already forward deployed in the AO, the followingconsiderations of early—and, if necessary,forced— entry become highly complex: protection,intelligence preparation, logistics, force buildup, infrastructureaccess, and the attainment of overwhelmingcombat power. Joint and combined operationsdemand careful synchronization of operations to effectintertheater and intratheater logistics flow, mutualsupport, efficient use of all available resources,and the ultimate application of force to achieve thestrategic purpose.Early decisions that put the operation in motionneed to consider the array of branches and sequels thatmay ensue. The need to synchronize effects in thesequencing of operations is equally important in operationsother than war. In all matters, the enemy willattempt to disrupt operations at the most inopportunetime. Throughout the depth of the operation—fromthe CONUS base, through the many time zones andregions, to the lodgment, and to the points of decisivecombat commanders will have to synchronize eventsto maximize the probability of success.2-8