Book Description

Released April 2020. This handbook is for leader training for operating in a mountainous environment. This is the first edition of this handbook, based on first-hand observations and a review of current and past Army doctrine and tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTP) by operational advisors from or attached to the Asymmetric Warfare Group (AWG). Recently, many additional Army references dealing with this subject have been created or updated, following more than 10 years of combat experience and identification of best practices in the mountains of Afghanistan. These documents address individual or squad-level tasks and concerns. In this handbook, AWG will address the principal gap of informing leaders and staff of the considerations necessary to plan, operate, fight, and win in mountainous terrain at the company level and above. Many charts, references, and examples from other Army publications are incorporated into this handbook where appropriate. The information contained in this handbook is a result of observations made by AWG unit members conducting operations in mountainous terrain worldwide, and a review of Army doctrine. The Army Mountain Warfare School, Northern Warfare Training Center, Ranger Training Brigade, sister-services, and allied institutions provided additional insights. The observations in this handbook are Geographic Combatant Command (GCC) agnostic and adaptable to mountain operations throughout the world. Mountains present leaders and units with unique challenges that compound existing difficult combat realities. The adverse environmental conditions in the mountains can make basic tasks seem almost impossible.