The Field Army Support Command

This book brings together experienced military leaders and researchers in the human sciences to offer current operational experience and scientific thought on the issue of military command, with the intention of raising awareness of the uniquely human aspects of military command. It includes chapters on the personal experiences of senior commanders, new concepts and treatises on command theory, and empirical findings from experimental studies in the field.

During warfighter exercises, it had become apparent that division and corps commanders were challenged with mission command of forces in their support areas. The commander of United States Army Forces Command directed commanders to establish a support area command post (SACP) to improve mission command. The Army's new Field Manual (FM) 3-0, Operations (06 OCT 2017), incorporates this guidance by modifying the geographical organization of an area of operations. FM 3-0 scales down the size of the support area and adds a consolidation area. The consolidation area will be assigned to a maneuver brigade or division. This enables the maneuver enhancement brigade (MEB) to perform its traditional mission and focus efforts on operations in the support area. FM 3-0 formalizes the requirement for divisions and corps to establish a SACP (its doctrinal name, which is used throughout this handbook) to assist in controlling operations in the support and consolidation areas.

During warfighter exercises, it had become apparent that division and corps commanders were challenged with mission command of forces in their support areas. The commander of United States Army Forces Command directed commanders to establish a support area command post (SACP) to improve mission command. The Army's new Field Manual (FM) 3-0, Operations (06 OCT 2017), incorporates this guidance by modifying the geographical organization of an area of operations. FM 3-0 scales down the size of the support area and adds a consolidation area. The consolidation area will be assigned to a maneuver brigade or division. This enables the maneuver enhancement brigade (MEB) to perform its traditional mission and focus efforts on operations in the support area. FM 3-0 formalizes the requirement for divisions and corps to establish a SACP (its doctrinal name, which is used throughout this handbook) to assist in controlling operations in the support and consolidation areas. This handbook provides divisions, corps, and their enablers several ways to implement recent guidance and doctrine for mission command in their support and consolidation areas. It provides the new doctrine that has been released in FM 3-0 as well as examples of how divisions and corps have employed their SACPs.

The Army has undergone a dramatic transformation over the last five years. It has become a modular “brigade-based” Army that is more responsive to combatant commander's needs. It better employs joint capabilities, facilitates force packaging and rapid deployment, and fights as self-contained units in non-linear, non-contiguous operations. Evolving from a rigid, multiecheloned formation to a more flexible, centralized structure that eliminates redundancy and streamlines support by removing unnecessary layers while remaining responsive to the needs of a joint and expeditionary Army. This publication provides fundamental guidance for the employment of the theater sustainment command (TSC) and expeditionary sustainment command (ESC) to command and control Army deployment and sustainment operations conducted in support of joint and multinational operations across the spectrum of conflict. Field Manual (FM) 4-94, “Theater Sustainment Command,” establishes Army doctrine for operational-level deployment and sustainment by providing overarching doctrinal direction for Army operations conducted in support of full spectrum operations detailed in other Army manuals. This edition of FM 4-94, the first revision since 2003, describes the TSC and how it relates to the combatant command as part of the modular Army. This manual will fill an immediate need, providing commanders and their staff with the doctrinal tools to succeed. In its current form, this manual provides the intellectual underpinnings that lie at the core of how a TSC and its subordinates operate. It gives an understanding of the modular logistics structure and how to apply effective command and control. By reading this FM, commanders and their staffs will be familiar with the TSC mission, organization, roles and key tasks to perform.