Overall role and missions

The Doctrine Division is tasked with co-ordinating the conduct of operational studies and with ensuring the overall coherence of the Army's doctrine. It entertains links with the Joint Staff, the Joint Concepts, Doctrine and Experimentation Centre (CICDE), the Army Staff, the Land Force Command (CFT), the prospective studies divisions of the branch schools (DEP) to only name the main partners.

In the framework of the operational studies co-ordination committee (COCOOPS), the Doctrine Division drafts or directs the drafting of all the land forces' employment documents (at the tactical levels).

To these missions, one must add:

• Representing the Army in the joint and allied doctrinal organisations (CICDE, NATO⁽¹⁾ , FINABEL⁽²⁾ );
• Conducting the tactical experimentations of new items of equipment;
• Participating in higher military education;
• Supporting the assessment of major exercises.

The Doctrine division especially bases its work on the lessons learned from French and foreign operations as well as on doctrinal exchanges with our main allies.

Organisation

"Command and Intelligence" department

• Employment of the command posts⁽³⁾ ;
• Manœuvre of major units;
• Aid-to-command;
• Digitisation of the battlespace
• Threat studies;
• Intelligence processing;
• Electronic, human and imagery intelligence;
• Electronic warfare

"Engagement" department

• Combined arms and joint coherence; contact, direct support
• "Support - Environment" department
• Organisation and running of logistics in operation;
• Cross-domain coherence of operational logistics⁽⁴⁾
• Environment, influence, national territory, NRBC

To these three departments, one must add the various advisors (dealing with transverse subject matters).

The doctrinal approach

Structure of the doctrinal documentation

Documentation produced by DDo

FT-01	COIN

Dissemination of the doctrinal documentation

Beside the limited number of hard copies produced, the entire doctrinal production (reference documents) is on-line on the Doctrinal reference site (the former BEAT) as well as on multimedia supports (DVD-ROMs and CD-ROMs), given yearly to all organisations.

www.cdef.terre.defense.gouv.fr/beat

(1) : North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.
(2) : Doctrinal think-tank made up of European countries.
(3) : Employment of the Command and Information Systems, support of the HQs.
(4) : Medical, equipment, POL, legal, transport support…