Department of the Navy
Headquarters United States Marine Corps
Washington, D.C. 20380-0001

This book is about winning in combat. Winning in combat requires many things: excellence in techniques, understanding of the battlefield, an appreciation of the opponent, exemplary leadership, battlefield judgment, and combat power. Yet these factors by themselves are no indicator of probable success in battle. Our study of history unveils that many armies, both winners and losers, possessed many or all of these attributes.

When we examine closely the differences between victor and vanquished, we draw one prevailing conclusion. This is that success went to the armies whose leaders, senior and junior, could best harmonize their efforts -their skills and their assets -toward a decisive end. Their success arose not from techniques, procedures, and material but from their leaders' abilities to uniquely and effectively combine them. What they share in common is an uncommon approach to combat. Then as now, winning in combat depends upon leaders - tactical leaders - who can think creatively and act decisively.

This manual is designed for all tactical leaders. Its content pertains equally to all Marine leaders, whether their duties entail combat service support, combat support, or combat arms. It applies to the MAGTF commander as well as the squadron commander and the fire team leader. Every Marine faces tactical decisions in battle regardless of his role. 

The concepts and principles within this manual are battle-tested. During Operation Desert Storm, our success on the battlefield resulted directly from the military skill of our leaders at every level of command. Because of their tactical skill and battlefield judgment, our commanders shaped the battlefield and applied the available means of warfare, achieving the tactical and operational advantage at the decisive time and place. We must remember that, although our equipment was superior to that of our enemy, the professionalism of our leaders and warriors won our decisive victory.

Tactics is consonant with FMFM 1, Warfighting, and FMFM 1-1 Campaigning. It presumes an understanding of the warfighting philosophy, applying it specifically to the tactical level. Like FMFM 1, it is not prescriptive but descriptive, providing guidance in the form of concepts and values. This manual illustrates a philosophy for waging and winning combat.

General A. M. Gray
U.S. Marine Corps
Commandant of the Marine Corps