This Army tactics, techniques, and procedures (ATTP) publication, “Commander and Staff Officer Guide,” reinforces the fundamentals of mission command established in field manual (FM) 3-0, Operations; FM 5-0, The Operations Process; and FM 6-0, Mission Command. Whereas the above manuals focus on the fundamentals of mission command, this manual provides commanders and staff officers with tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTP) essential for the exercise of mission command. This is a new Army publication. It includes many of the appendices currently found in FM 5-0 and FM 6-0 that addressed the “how to” of mission command. By consolidating this material into a single publication, Army leaders now have a single reference to assist them with TTP associated with planning, preparing for, executing, and continually assessing operations. This ATTP also enables the Army to better focus the material in future editions of FMs 5-0 and 6-0 on the fundamentals of the operations process and mission command, respectively.

Field Manual FM 6-0 Commander and Staff Organization and Operations May 2014 provides commanders and their staffs with tactics and procedures for exercising mission command. This publication supersedes ATTP 5-0.1, Commander and Staff Officer Guide. To comprehend the doctrine contained in this publication, readers must first understand the nature of unified land operations as described in ADP 3-0 and ADRP 3-0, Unified Land Operations. In addition, readers must also fully understand the principles of mission command as described in ADP 6-0 and ADRP 6-0, Mission Command, and the fundamentals of the operations process found in ADP 5-0 and ADRP 5-0, The Operations Process. The principal audience for FM 6-0 includes Army commanders, leaders, and unit staffs (officers, noncommissioned officers, and Soldiers). Commanders and staffs of Army headquarters serving as a joint task force or multinational headquarters should also refer to applicable joint or multinational doctrine concerning the range of military operations as well as the employment of joint or multinational forces. Trainers and educators throughout the Army will also use this publication. Commanders, staffs, and subordinates ensure their decisions and actions comply with applicable United States, international, and, in some cases, host-nation laws and regulations. Commanders at all levels ensure their Soldiers operate in accordance with the law of war and the rules of engagement. FM 6-0 uses joint terms where applicable. Selected joint and Army terms and definitions appear in both the glossary and the text. Terms for which FM 6-0 is the proponent publication (the authority) are marked with an asterisk (*) in the glossary. Terms and definitions for which FM 6-0 is the proponent publication are boldfaced in the text. For other definitions shown in the text, the term is italicized and the number of the proponent publication follows the definition. FM 6-0 applies to the Active Army, the Army National Guard/Army National Guard of the United States, and the United States Army Reserve unless otherwise stated. FM 6-0 contains 16 chapters and 4 appendixes. The chapters are organized by topic and have been updated to reflect changes to doctrine formats (Doctrine 2015) and changes in ADP 3-0 and ADRP 3-0, ADP 6-0 and ADRP 6-0, and ADP 5-0 and ADRP 5-0. The following is a brief introduction and summary of changes by chapter and appendix.