Combatant Commands

Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms

This is a print on demand edition of a hard to find publication. This dictionary sets forth standard U.S. military and associated terminology to encompass the joint activity of the Armed Forces of the United States in both U.S. joint and allied joint operations, as well as to encompass the Department of Defense (DoD) as a whole. These military and associated terms, together with their definitions, constitute approved DoD terminology for general use by all components of the DoD. The Sec. of Defense has directed the use of this dictionary throughout the DoD to ensure standardization of military and associated terminology. Update of 2002 edition.

Reorganization of the Department of Defense

Operations

The Army believes that the U.S. will continue to be engaged in an era of ¿persistent conflict¿ -- a period of protracted confrontation among states, non-state, and individual actors increasingly willing to use violence to achieve their political and ideological ends. This manual is a revolutionary departure from past doctrine. Commanders will employ offensive, defensive, and civil support operations simultaneously as part of an interdependent joint force to seize, retain, and exploit the initiative, accepting prudent risk to create opportunities to achieve decisive results. This ed. will take us into the 21st century urban battlefields among the people without losing our capabilities to dominate the higher conventional end of the spectrum of conflict.