How I Corps Fights
Movement and Maneuver
Brig. Gen. Eric Landry, Canadian Army
Col. Andrew Watson, U.S. Army
Lt. Col. Alex Bedard, U.S. Army
Maj. Callum Muntz, Australian Army
U.S. Army soldiers with 3rd Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, fire an M240 machine gun on 2 November 2022 while defending an objective as the opposing force during Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center (JPMRC) rotation 23-01 at Pohakuloa Training Area, Hawaii
U.S. Army soldiers with 3rd Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division (25th ID), fire an M240 machine gun on 2 November 2022 while defending an objective as the opposing force during Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center (JPMRC) rotation 23-01 at Pohakuloa Training Area, Hawaii. JPMRC used training scenarios specific to certain environments to train the 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 25th ID, with joint, allied, and partnered forces under conditions in which they would fight. (Photo by Sgt. Rachel Christensen, U.S. Army)
Now the general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple ere the battle is fought. The general who loses a battle makes but few calculations beforehand. Thus do many calculations lead to victory, and few calculations lead to defeat: how much more no calculation at all! It is by attention to this point that I can foresee who is likely to win or lose.
—Sun Tzu, The Art of War
America’s First Corps (I Corps) serves as the operational U.S. Army headquarters for U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM), employing U.S. Army forces in the INDOPACOM area of responsibility (AOR) to contribute to the vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific. Previous work by the I Corps commanding general, Lt. Gen. Xavier Brunson, outlined the vision for how I Corps fights, introducing the DARES framework: define fights, apportion efforts, resource priorities, evaluate outcomes, and seek feedback.1 The objective of this article is to build and expand upon this framework as it relates to the movement and maneuver warfighting function (M2 WfF). At the corps level, the M2 WfF is commonly misunderstood. Decisions regarding the M2 WfF need to be made well before those forces ever engage in combat with the enemy. This article first reviews how I Corps fights in the context of the INDOPACOM AOR, multidomain operations (MDO), and the I Corps distributed command and control nodes (DC2N) process. It then defines the M2 WfF. The next section introduces a thesis and applies it within the context of the DARES framework.
The INDOPACOM AOR is fraught with challenges unlike those seen in AORs where U.S. Army forces have played a more prevalent role in recent history. The INDOPACOM AOR contains over half of the world’s population with nearly two-thirds of the world’s economy.2 The INDOPACOM AOR’s geography often requires operations in littoral and archipelagic regions, leading to noncontiguous areas of operation (AO). Time and distance challenges in this AOR surpass those in others, impacting force movement and sustainment operations. Geography also forces the U.S. Army toward greater reliance on the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, and U.S. Air Force.
Another notable factor of the AOR involves the U.S. Army’s partnerships and alliances in the region. Whereas other AORs may have well-established U.S. multinational military frameworks, the Indo-Pacific is rife with bilateral and multilateral agreements, often without a commonly understood language. Formal alliances exist with Japan, the Republic of Korea, Thailand, the Philippines, and Australia. Those alliances are reinforced regularly by military exercises like Yama Sakura, Freedom Shield, Cobra Gold, Salaknib-Balikatan, and Talisman Sabre. As the geopolitical situation across the AOR evolves, traditionally bilateral U.S. engagements are expanding to include new partnerships. One example is the frequent integration of I Corps and the 1st Australian Division, or 1 (AS) DIV. Japan formally recognized 1 (AS) DIV as a participant in exercise Yama Sakura 85, traditionally a bilateral U.S.-Japan exercise. These distinguishing factors of geography and continually changing relationships within the INDOPACOM AOR set the stage for I Corps’ role within U.S. Army MDO.
https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Journals/Military-Review/English-Edition-Archives/SO-24/SO-24-How-I-Corps-Fights/
