Movement to Contact: Losing the Fight from the Start.

This monograph evaluates the soundness of U.S. movement to contact doctrine towards the offensive meeting battle. The author distinguishes two forms of meeting battle: offensive and defensive. The offensive meeting battle is a continuous struggle for the initiative. The author finds that in an offensive meeting battle, U.S. movement to contact doctrine concedes the initiative. U.S. movement to contact doctrine is passive, indecisive, and reactionary. The doctrine loses the fight from the start. The doctrine is evaluated against the offense guidance presented in FM 100-5 to determine its level of congruency with capstone doctrine. Soviet doctrine is introduced to support the position presented in FM 100-5. The Soviets championed the offensive meeting battle. They preferred it to all other forms of combat. Presently, military policy is requiring that a belligerent's offensive capability be neutralized without protracted war. Whereas the doctrine of the Cold War evolved to the doctrine of the offensive-defense, conditions today require the evolution of doctrine towards the defensive-offense. The offensive meeting battle is a means to this end.