Larger Units: Theater Army, Army Group, and Field Army

The current U.S. Army doctrine for larger unit
operations predates the AirLand Battle doctrine. As a
result, the Combined Arms Center's Concept Development
Directorate and the Command and General Staff College's
Department of Joint and Combined Operations are updating
the older doctrine with a new field manual on larger unit
operations. The Combat Studies Institute (CSI) was tasked
support this project by preparing historical
perspective on the echelons of field army, a&y group and
theater army organization during wartime. The following
study is the result of CSI's efforts.
The military philosopher J. F. C. Fuller noted that
"looking back is the best way of looking forward." CSI"s
task in looking back was to uncover common principles of
command and organization in order to highlight past
mistakes and successes. To do this, the study begins with
World War II and moves forward to the Vietnam Conflict.
The study focuses on the organization, command
relationships, functions, and logistics of operational
theaters.
The study uncovered unity of command as a guiding
principle for larger unit organization, and many other
lessons are developed as well in the individual chapters.
It is hoped that this study will help provide the
historical foundation for the revised larger unit manuals.