PPT Slide
Field Manual (FM) 100-5 - Operations
Agility is the ability of friendly forces to react faster than the enemy and is a prerequisite of seizing and holding the initiative. It is as much a mental as a physical quality. Greater quickness permits rapid concentration of friendly strength against enemy vulnerabilities. Forces may need to concentrate repeatedly so that by the time the enemy reacts to one action, another has taken its place, disrupting the enemy’s plans and leading to late, uncoordinated, and piecemeal responses. This process of successive concentration against locally weaker or unprepared enemy forces enables smaller forces to disorient, fragment, and eventually defeat much larger opposing formations. To achieve such defeat, leaders and units must be agile.” ...
Place the enemy in a position of disadvantage through the flexible application of combat power.
Maneuver is the movement of forces in relation to the enemy to gain positional advantage. Effective maneuver keeps the enemy off balance and protects the force It is used to exploit successes, to preserve freedom of action, and to reduce vulnerability. It continually poses new problems for the enemy by rendering his actions ineffective, eventually leading to defeat.
At all levels of war, successful application of maneuver requires agility of thought, plans, operations, and organizations. It requires designating and then shifting points of the main effort and considered application of the principles of mass and economy of force. At the operational level, maneuver is the means by which the commander determines where and when to fight be setting terms of battle, declining battle, or acting to take advantage of tactical actions. Maneuver is dynamic warfare that rejects predictable patterns of operations.”
Doctrine emphasizes the relationship between rapid movement of forces and maneuver. We categorized actions such as flanking attack, envelopment, counter attack, and pursuit as “rapid movement actions.” Because “successful application of maneuver requires agility ….” we feel strongly that the presence or lack of these actions, used properly in the context of the mission, constitute strength or weakness with respect to the principle of maneuver.