General Tactics, Army

The strategic reality has evolved. But one constant remains: today as in the past, crises and conflicts always arise and are resolved on the ground. After Afghanistan, French land forces in Mali and the Central African Republic must confront determined adversaries who show little regard for human life, deliver and protect hostage populations, and train, accompany, and re-mobilize weakened local security forces. To achieve their strategic objectives in these operations, tactical commanders combine the actions of all their resources, drawing on simple doctrinal principles enriched by recent and carefully contextualized lessons learned. These general tactical principles are developed in this work. As essential safeguards, they must be applied with common sense, without inhibiting constraints, and adapted to the specific context of each engagement. General Tactics is one of the five foundational documents of the French Army's doctrinal corpus.