Definitions Flashcards
Preventive Medicine
The anticipation, prediction, identification, prevention, and control of communicable diseases (including vector-, food-, and waterborne diseases), illnesses, injuries, and diseases due to exposure to occupational and environmental health threats, including nonbattle injury threats, combat and operational stress reactions, and other threats to the health and readiness of military personnel and military units. (Currently the proponent is FM 4-02 but will be moved to ATP 4-02.17 when published.)
en route care
The care required to maintain the phased treatment initiated prior to evacuation and the sustainment of the patient’s medical condition during evacuation.
Unified Land Operations
The simultaneous execution of offense , defense , stability, and defense support of civil authorities across multiple domains to shape operational environments, prevent conflict, prevail in large-scale ground combat, and consolidate gains as part of unified action
Executed through Decisive Action Offensive , Defensive Stability DSCA guided by Mission Command
Elements of Decisive Action Offense
Types of Offensive Operations
Move to contact.
Attack Exploitation
Pursuit
Purposes
Dislocate,isolate,disrupt and destroy enemy forces
Seize key terrain
Deprive the enemy of resources
Refine Intelligence
Decieve and divert the enemy
Provide a secure environment for stability task
Elements of Decisive Action Defense
Defense Types of Defensive Operations Mobile defense Area defense Retrogade
Purposes
Deter or defeat enemy offense Gain time Achieve economy of force Retain key terrain Protect the population, critical assets, and infrastructure Refine intelligence
Stability
Stability Operation Tasks Establish civil security Establish civil control Restore essential services Support to governance Support to economic and insfrastructure development Conduct security cooperation
Purposes
Provide a secure environment
Secure land areas
Meet the critical needs of the population
Gain support for the host-nation government
Shape the environment for interagency and host-nation success
Promote security, build partner capacity, and provide access
Refine intelligence
Defense Support of Civil Authorities
Defense Support of Civil Authorities Task
Provide support for domestic disasters
provide support for domestic chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear incidents
Provide support for domestic civilian law enforcement agencies
Provide other designated support
Purposes
Save lives
Restore essential services
Maintain or restore law and order
Protect infrastructure and property
Support maintenance or restoration of local government
Shape the environment for intergovernmental success
Warfighting Functions
Command & Control Movement and Maneuver Intelligence Fires Sustainment Protection
Defense Support of Civil Authorities
Defense support of civil authorities is support provided by U.S. Federal military forces, DOD civilians,
DOD contract personnel, DOD Component assets, and National Guard forces (when the Secretary of
Defense, in coordination with the Governors of the affected States, elects and requests to use those forces in
Title 32, United States Code status) in response to requests for assistance from civil authorities for domestic
emergencies, law enforcement support, and other domestic activities, or from qualifying entities for special
events. (DODD 3025.18). DSCA is a task executed in the homeland and U.S. territories. It is performed to
support another primary agency, lead federal agency, or local authority. When DSCA is authorized, it consists
of four types of operations (see table 3-1 on page 3-2 and DODD 3025.18). National Guard forces—Title 32
or state active forces under the command and control of the governor and the adjutant general—are usually
the first forces to respond on behalf of state authorities. When Federal military forces are employed for DSCA
activities, they remain under Federal military command and control at all times. (See DODD 3025.18,
JP 3-28, and ADP 3-28 for detailed discussions of DSCA.)
Stability Operations
A stability operation is an operation conducted outside the United States in coordination with
other instruments of national power to establish or maintain a secure environment and provide
essential governmental services, emergency infrastructure reconstruction, and humanitarian relief.
These operations support governance by a host nation, an interim government, or a military government.
Stability involves coercive and constructive action. Stability helps in building relationships among unified
action partners and promoting U.S. security interests. It can help establish political, legal, social, and
economic institutions in an area while supporting transition of responsibility to a legitimate authority.
Commanders are legally required to perform minimum-essential stability operations tasks when controlling
populated areas of operations. These include security, food, water, shelter, and medical treatment. (See
ADP 3-07 for a detailed discussion of stability.)
Defensive Operations
A defensive operation is an operation to defeat an enemy attack, gain time, economize forces, and
develop conditions favorable for offensive or stability operations. Normally the defense cannot achieve a
decisive victory. However, it sets conditions for a counteroffensive or a counterattack that enables forces to
regain the initiative. Defensive operations are a counter to an enemy offensive action, and they seek to destroy
as much of the attacking enemy forces as possible. They preserve control over land, resources, and
populations, and retain key terrain, protect lines of communications, and protect critical capabilities against
attack. Commanders can conduct defensive operations in one area to free forces for offensive operations
elsewhere. (See ADP 3-90 for a detailed discussion of the defense.)
Offensive Operations
An offensive operation is an operation to defeat or destroy enemy forces and gain control of
terrain, resources, and population centers. Offensive operations impose the commander’s will on an enemy. The offense is the most direct means of seizing, retaining, and exploiting the initiative to gain a
physical and psychological advantage. In the offense, the decisive operation is a sudden action directed
toward enemy weaknesses and capitalizing on speed, surprise, and shock. If that operation fails to destroy an
enemy, operations continue until enemy forces are defeated. The offense compels an enemy to react, creating
new or larger weaknesses the attacking force can exploit. (See ADP 3-90 for a detailed discussion of the
offense.)
DECISIVE ACTION
Decisive action is the continuous, simultaneous execution of offensive, defensive, and stability
operations or defense support of civil authority tasks. Army forces conduct decisive action. Commanders
seize, retain, and exploit the initiative while synchronizing their actions to achieve the best effects possible.
Operations conducted outside the United States and its territories simultaneously combine three elements of
decisive action—offense, defense, and stability. Within the United States and its territories, decisive action
combines elements of DSCA and, as required, offense and defense to support homeland defense. (See table
3-1 on page 3-2.)
3-4. Decisive action begins with the commander’s intent and concept of operations. Decisive action
provides direction for an entire operation. Commanders and staffs refine the concept of operations during
planning and determine the proper allocation of resources and tasks. Throughout an operation, they may
adjust the allocation of resources and tasks as conditions change.
3-5. The simultaneity of decisive action varies by echelon and span of control. Higher echelons generally
have a broader focus than lower echelons when assigning responsibilities to subordinates. The higher the
echelon, the greater the possibility that all elements of decisive action occur simultaneously within its area
of operations. At lower echelons, an assigned task may require all the echelons’ combat power to execute a
specific task. For example, in some form a higher echelon, such as a corps, always performs offensive,
defensive, and stability or defense support of civil authority operations simultaneously. Subordinate brigades
perform some combination of offensive, defensive, and stability operations, but they generally are more
focused by their immediate priorities on a specific element, particularly during large-scale ground combat
operations.
Unified land operations
Unified land operations is the simultaneous execution of offense, defense, stability, and defense support of civil
authorities across multiple domains to shape operational environments, prevent conflict, prevail in
large-scale ground combat, and consolidate gains as part of unified action.
Medical Functions
The AHS is a component of the Department of Defense (DOD) Military Health System (MHS).
It is responsible for operational management of the:
Force Health Protection (FHP)
Health Service Support (HSS).
The AHS includes all mission support services arranged by the AMEDD for the Army and as directed, for joint, intergovernmental agencies, and multinational forces, as part of the MHS.
