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1 [1] (December 8, 2020)

handle is hein.crs/govdcyn0001 and id is 1 raw text is: %Fnw C~l rES .rh$e Updated December 8, 2020 Defense Primer: Army Multi-Domain Operations (MDO) As an operational concept, Multi-Domain Operations (MDO) influence what types of weapon systems and equipment the Army procures, what types and numbers of soldiers are needed, and what type of training is required significant legislative concerns for Congress. In this regard, an understanding of MDO could prove beneficial for congressional oversight activities. What Ar'e Mu'lti-D..ma.n Opeato (MDO) According to the U.S. Army's Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC): Multi-Domain Operations (MDO) describes how the U.S. Army, as part of the joint force [Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines] can counter and defeat a near-peer adversary capable of contesting the U.S. in all domains [air, land, maritime, space, and cyberspace] in both competition and armed conflict. The concept describes how U.S. ground forces, as part of the joint and multinational team, deter adversaries and defeat highly capable near- peer enemies in the 2025-2050 timeframe. MDO provides commanders numerous options for executing simultaneous and sequential operations using surprise and the rapid and continuous integration of capabilities across all domains to present multiple dilemmas to an adversary in order to gain physical and psychological advantages and influence and control over the operational environment. W'h~y Mid the. Army Adop M S MDO is described in detail in a December 2018 Army publication titled The U.S. Army in Multi-Domain Operations 2028. MDO was developed in response to the 2018 National Defense Strategy, which shifted the previous focus of U.S. national security from countering violent extremists worldwide to confronting revisionist powers primarily Russia and China that are said to want to shape a world consistent with their authoritarian model gaining veto authority over other nations' economic, diplomatic, and security decisions. According to The U.S. Army in Multi-Domain Operations 2028: China and Russia exploit the conditions of the operational environment to achieve their objectives without resorting to armed conflict by fracturing the U.S.'s alliances, partnerships, and resolve. They attempt to create stand-off through the integration of diplomatic and economic actions, unconventional and information warfare (social media, false narratives, cyber-attacks), and the actual or threatened employment of conventional forces. By creating instability within countries and alliances, China and Russia create political separation that results in strategic ambiguity reducing the speed of friendly recognition, decision, and reaction. Through these competitive actions, China and Russia believe they can achieve objectives below the threshold of armed conflict. Army leadership believes that if the Army in conjunction with the other Services prevails in these competitions in all domains, that U.S. national security objectives should be achieved. The Army's central idea is to prevail by competing successfully in all domains short of conflict, deterring a potential enemy. If deterrence fails, Army forces along with the Joint Force are to do the following: Penetrate enemy anti-access and area denial systems (layered and integrated long-range precision-strike systems, littoral anti-ship capabilities, air defenses, and long-range artillery and rocket systems) to enable strategic and operational maneuver of U.S. forces. Dis-integrate-disrupt, degrade, or destroy enemy anti- access and area denial systems to enable operational and tactical maneuver of U.S. forces. Exploit the resulting freedom of maneuver to achieve operational and strategic objectives by defeating enemy forces in all domains. Re-compete-consolidate gains across domains and force a return to competition on favorable terms to the United States and allies. As part of the release of The U.S. Army in Multi-Domain Operations 2028, an Army official described to the media that specific Army echelons will be given different problems to address under MDO. Existing Divisions and Corps will be tasked with fighting and defeating specific components of the enemy's system. As such, the Army will no longer organize or center itself on Brigade Combat Teams (BCTs) as it did under previous National Defense Strategies. Under the previous BCT-centered organizational construct, Divisions and Corps had a limited warfighting role, but under MDO, Divisions and Corps headquarters are to return to their historic warfighting roles, in which they employed subordinate units and allocated Corps- and Division-level assets to support subordinate units. \\\\'\\ L N \ \I \N, \ \\ \ \ Q\\ \\\ \\\