Definition of Military Doctrine

What we usually see of a armed conflict, the battles, the shots and the violence, it is only the last step that is part of a longer process in which many factors and it has many more aspects.

One of these aspects is the "way" of doing things in the military establishment, how an army carries out its deployment and operations to achieve the objectives set. This is what is called "military doctrine."

Military doctrine consists of a series of mental frames and ways of doing things, followed by one or more armies in the field, the application of which depends on the commanders on the ground and the situation.

For example, doctrine indicates how to use armored forces (tanks and various vehicles), either only as support to the infantry, or in separate units to quickly break through the front, for example.

Military doctrine permeates everything in the army, from the choice of combat equipment, to the disposition of the forces once the military begins. conflict, through the interaction between the different weapons of the army and its own organization.

For example, in the doctrine of Imperial Japan before and during World War II, aviation was divided between the army of land and the navy, there is no separation of this body from the others as if it exists in modern times in all armies.

In particular, this case caused the navy to have its aircraft carriers, but so did the army, fighting to subordinate the other to their objectives, needs and orders.

Following the same thread of airborne aviation, in Nazi Germany, the development of an aircraft carrier was held back by control at that Hermann Göring wanted to subdue all the German military aviation, something that escaped him if the new ship was in the hands of the Kriegsmarine.

On the other hand, the Americans and the British quickly saw the advantages of betting on aircraft carriers and an aviation in them subject to the needs of the navy and coordinated through it with the rest of the forces, for which they incorporated it into their respective doctrines.

Military doctrine must take into account the nature of the enemy or threat, his forces, his own, and the terrain on which operations will be carried out.

While the modern mission of the armed forces of any country is, above all, to protect the territorial integrity and its citizens, which implies a defensive doctrine, the main powers that habitually intervene abroad must also have a doctrine that contemplates the actions offensive.

The doctrines of each country are born in the offices and classrooms of the military academies, as well as the headquarters of the high command.

They are the result of experience and the planning and, I emphasize once again, they are generic.

A doctrine will never explain how to take this or that hill, but it can explain that “to take points defended by the enemy in which he has the advantage of dominating the battlefield, first it will be necessary to weaken it by bombarding it for a prolonged period of time, by means of terrestrial batteries and from the air, to attack quickly later thanks to armored units, protected by infantry" (I invented it).

In this way, managers know how to proceed, adapting these guidelines (they are not orders in themselves) to the circumstances in which they find themselves. For example, in the case that I have assumed in the paragraph above, we can find protections through anti-tank trenches and others that make it impossible or difficult extremely the use of the armored weapon, its attack being replaced by that of infantry or special forces, by example.

Military doctrines are also woven between allies, as is the case with NATO.

It has always been said that the weakest point in a coalition of different armies is the point of union between two different armies. In this case, the doctrines seek to create synergies and manage correctly and seamlessly, the interaction and resources that all the armies put on the field.

Photos: Fotolia - Grigory Bruev - Kaninstudio

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