TTPs

Army Training Theory is based on; Crawl > Walk > Run. This however misses the "Marathon" or "Mastery" concepts that may be necessary to sustain pro-longed deployments, conflict, or personal growth. By the Company level, you must be familiar with every Warfighting Function (WfF) in order to "Combine Arms" and utilize all assets available.

*** The path to greatness is paved with the stones of past failures ***
** Without struggle, there is no progress **
* The obstacle is the way *

The basis of all Army operations lies in it's doctrine. This is an excellent foundation, but, its impossible to carry all of the doctrine with you in to the field or remember everything from every class you have ever taken. That's where Doctrine Pages and Quick Reference Guides comes in.
Digital; email admin@armybluf.us with "Doctrine Quick Reference" in the subject line from an army.mil email and receive a hyperlinked quick reference guide to all ADPs, FMs, and ATPs available from ArmyPubs. This is an excellent tool to keep on your desktop and highlight key doctrine you reference often. Be sure to check your junk mail or "other" folder.
Analog; to enable your "pocket-doctrine" we have formatted key highlights from doctrine into summaries that fit on Rite-in-the-rain (4.625"x7") six ring binder paper. Available at Rite-In-The-Rain or NSN 7530-01-537-3569. Below is a list of Doctrine available for auto-reply email distribution. Be sure to check your junk mail or "other" folder. To receive a leader book or pocket doctrine template, just email admin@armybluf.us from an army.mil email with one of the below subject lines. Check back often as we expand and develop further doctrine summaries.

"Rite-In-The-Rain ADPs" Army Doctrine Publication (ADP) Summaries (1,396 pages reduced to 100).
"Rite-In-The-Rain Military Symbols" Army Field Manual 1-02.2 Military Symbols Summary (312 pages reduced to 8).
"Rite-In-The-Rain RANGER HB" Army Training Circular TC 3-21.76 Ranger Handbook Summary (370 pages reduced to 44).

Unit Symbol Generator - www.spatialillusions.com

"No plan survives first contact" - "The Enemy gets a vote" - "Fight the Enemy, not the Plan"
The best way to build in redundancy and flexibility into your plan is to utilize the PACE concept. Primary, Alternate, Contingency, and Emergency plans.

Whether a forward reconnaissance unit, area exploitation team, or rear-area security; soldiers are more lethal than ever.
By task organizing capabilities, formations can be concealed, agile, and lethal. (Modern War Institute - NTC - Ukraine)
See also: Lead Element, Advance Guard (FM 3-90-1), Civil War Picketing, or point man (TC 3-21.76).

If you can stay hidden and hit the enemy with indirect fire without even getting out of your sleeping bag, why wouldn't you?
To train this basic skill, all you need is a VS-17 panel, Antenna, communications, and GPS.

• Observer identifies the target and calls in a fire mission.

• Marker uses GPS to go to grid and wave the VS-17 panel at the grid called.

• Observer adjust fire as necessary (repeat).

Level II - Attempt a time on target, moving target with time of flight, or adjusted sheaf on main avenue of approach.

The best way to train for a near-peer threat, is to train against the best - your peers! No matter what level you work or lead at, develop your teams and processes by developing friendly competition and ingenuity. The only limit is your imagination. Base your training and rewards systems off of real mission examples and repetitions at any echelon. Leaders will naturally try new tactics and techniques to gain advantage. Provide limited blanks to force unit resupply, magazine changes, achieving a position of advantage, and utilizing fire commands. Your team will rise to the challenge!
Examples:

• Squad level - place one team in the Offense and one in the Defense. Reverse and change the scenarios with increased complexity.

• Company level - place on platoon in the Offense, one in the Defense, and one in Reconnaissance to observe and report (without being seen).

Drill & Ceremony is still taught for a reason. Beyond moving soldiers from point A to point B, exercise your mounted formations with mounted drill and ceremony. When you observe an armored platoon (HMV, Bradley, Abrams, etc.) move in unison with their weapons forward, it inspires awe or fear depending on which side you are on. Mass effects online, guns forward, and be a unified force. The enemy targets the strays.

Realistically, you cannot maneuver your forces every day with limitations to training areas, funding, and soldier care. The best practice to challenge your tactics and ingenuity is war-gaming with your peers. All you need are 3x leaders (at echelon), a map (digital or analog), and a Synchronization Matrix (SynchMat) for planning. The concept is 2x peers face off against each other with their plan. The leader/commander receives reports from both and decides how to allocate limited assets (UAS, IDF, Engineers, etc.). Increase complexity via distributed communications, different maps, adjusted combat ratios, or even add Disgruntled Decks to facilitate "beer" counseling. It -IS- possible to learn and enjoy tactical training.

• To receive a free Wargaming Template, email admin@ArmyBLUF.us with "Wargame Template" in the subject line.

It is near impossible to read and review all Orders and Annexes. Some exceed a hundred pages in Excel, Word, or PowerPoint. Most leaders skim their focal points and get to work. The majority of information in Orders is repeated over and over. The best-practice is to review your previous orders and roll-up any repetitive information into your SOP. SOPs can be saved as PDFs with hyperlinked references, Annexes, and more. Then, your orders can focus on the Bottom Line Up Front to ensure common understanding, intent, and operational picture.

The best Staff products are useless unless they are in the hands of the leaders and soldier's who need them. An Analog map in the main cannot synchronize nor enable the entire formation. Take your best Staff products; Common Operational Picture (COP), Graphics, Imagery, SynchMat, Order Summary, and Intel Estimates and then "Save As" a reduced size PDF. Over fifty pages of imagery can be reduced to less than eight kilobytes. You can add hyperlinked navigation buttons or hyperlink clear shapes on maps to turn any document into a "Smart" map that can be navigated with any touchscreen, cellphone, tablet, or JBCP. Get the right products out to enable your forces.

• To receive a concept draft, email admin@ArmyBLUF.us from an army.mil email with "PDF Smart Doc" in the subject line.

Every soldier has experienced "death by PowerPoint." Every soldier has read a Word generated Memo or order. But, there is still huge advantages in Excel to explore and exploited. From trackers to analytics, Excel is the tool. Bonus points if you learn the formulas or Macros to automate your tools and trackers even further.

• To receive an Excel example for Military Time utilization and formulas, email admin@ArmyBLUF.us with "Military Time Examples" in the subject line.

• Measure what matters, to download a Command Post Jump Tracker, email admin@ArmyBLUF.us with "Jump Tracker" in the subject line.