Military doctrine

Military doctrine is a level of military planning between national strategy and unit-level tactics, techniques, and procedures. It provides a shared way of thinking about military problems, but does not direct how military problems will be solved. It does not provide specific steps to solve a problem, nor does it direct a commander to take any action. Commanders are always expected to exercise their own judgment in carrying out their missions.

Related Topics:
Strategy - Tactics

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Doctrine may be shared among the armed services of a nation as well as be specific to a branch. In addition, doctrine may be shared between several nations.

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In general, doctrinal documents state:

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• A nation's national military objectives
• The general mission of the armed service or branch ("who we are")
• General concepts of how this service or branch shall perform its mission ("what we do")
• Concerns and cautions in carrying out this mission ("how we should do it")
• Historical examples ("how we did it in the past")

Military doctrine changes, or should change, as the nature of warfare and the specific threat to a nation changes.

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Military doctrine: Relationship between doctrine and strategy ►