Army Doctrine Publication (ADP) 6-0 presents the Army's guidance on command, control, and the mission command warfighting function. This publication concisely describes how commanders, supported by their staffs, combine the art of command and the science of control to understand situations, make decisions, direct action, and accomplish missions. (See figure 1, page iv, for a graphical overview of the exercise of mission command.)
The principal audience for ADP 6-0 is all professionals within the Army. Commanders and staffs of Army headquarters serving as joint task force or multinational headquarters should also refer to applicable joint or multinational doctrine on command and control of joint or multinational forces. Trainers and educators throughout the Army will also use this publication.
Commanders, staffs, and subordinates ensure their decisions and actions comply with applicable U.S., international, and, in some cases, host-nation laws and regulations. Commanders at all levels ensure their Soldiers operate in accordance with the law of war and the rules of engagement. (See Field Manual [FM] 27-10.)
To understand and apply mission command doctrine, readers must understand how unified land operations (the Army's operational concept, described in ADP 3-0, Unified Land Operations) contributes to unified action. In addition, readers must be familiar with the fundamentals of the operations process, established in ADP 5-0, The Operations Process, and the fundamentals of Army leadership.
Army Doctrine Reference Publication (ADRP) 6-0, also titled Mission Command, explains the principles of mission command in more detail. Taken as a whole, the doctrine in ADP 6-0, ADRP 6-0, and ADP 5-0 forms the foundation for the tactics, techniques, and procedures for the exercise of mission command.
ADP 6-0 uses joint terms where applicable. Selected joint and Army terms and definitions appear in both the glossary and the text. Terms for which ADP 6-0 is the proponent publication (the authority) are marked with an asterisk (*) in the glossary. Definitions for which ADP 6-0 is the proponent publication are boldfaced in the text. These terms and their definitions will be in the next revision of FM 1-02. For other definitions shown in the text, the term is italicized and the number of the proponent publication follows the definition.
ADP 6-0 applies to the Active Army, Army National Guard/Army National Guard of the United States, and United States Army Reserve unless otherwise stated.
