text: Foreword
  Advances in civilian and military technology have changed the character of warfare and the conduct of Army
  and joint force operations. The dilemmas posed by the integration of new technologies into the future
  battlefield have changed the way the Army and the joint force sustain multidomain operations. In the future,
  sustainment will be more complex, demanding, visible to the enemy, vulnerable, and therefore, must be more
  synchronized, dispersed, and responsive than ever before. FM 4-0 provides a doctrinal approach for armies,
  corps, divisions, and brigades to address sustainment challenges across the range of military operations, the
  competition continuum and the strategic contexts in which Army forces conduct operations. As the keystone
  sustainment doctrine, it describes how sustainment is embedded into all military operations, tasks, and
  activities. FM 4-0 also identifies the sustainment implications for the Army’s operating concept and describes
  how sustainment forces are arrayed against the operational framework to include sustainment considerations
  for operations in a maritime environment.
  The currently ongoing Russo-Ukrainian conflict is the most recent example of the current character of war,
  and it has provided many critical insights into how the U.S. Army will need to support large-scale combat
  operations in the future. FM 4-0 integrates many of these lessons learned into its doctrinal framework. The
  Army and joint force must quickly learn and adapt to the challenges of the modern battlefield to survive,
  sustain, fight, and win in the future. The wide variety of sensors and intelligence disciplines employed by our
  adversaries will make the future battlefield transparent and contested across its breadth and depth.
  Sustainment units, nodes and routes can and will be seen by the enemy. Sustainment nodes and assets will
  be targeted with direct and indirect fires delivered by air, land, maritime, cyberspace, space, and special
  operations forces. The enemy will employ unmanned aerial systems of every size and description to find and
  engage sustainment formations. These fundamental truths of warfare must be understood by all leaders,
  especially sustainment leaders, and integrated into all aspects of operations.
  The geography, terrain, infrastructure, and vast distances in the Pacific and European theaters will also
  challenge Army and joint force freedom of action, operational reach, and endurance. These theaters have
  environmental conditions ranging from arctic to jungle and include complex urban, littoral, mountainous,
  and island terrain. In many cases, the terrain and the threat of enemy long-range fires will increase the distance
  between maneuver and sustainment forces and make it imperative that sustainment be precise, predictive,
  and data centric. The state of port, airfield, road, and rail infrastructure will also challenge Army and joint
  force sustainment. The Army must be able to sustain operations in austere environments where infrastructure
  is non-existent, unimproved, damaged, or destroyed.
  The Army must continually transform to counter emerging threats and the challenges of the Pacific and
  European theaters. We must continue to transform in contact developing our ability to leverage data and
  invest in predictive logistics capabilities to make sustainment more precise. We must integrate autonomous
  technology into our formations, offloading risk to machines while adding depth, breath, and speed to our
  distribution capabilities. Reducing the demand and logistics footprint of all Army formations will also be
  critical to prolonging operational reach and endurance. Advancements in operational energy and alternative
  methods of generating and distributing power, as well as water purification and production of repair parts at
  or near the point of need, will help significantly reduce Army distribution requirements. Investments will be
  made in Army watercraft to enable movement and maneuver in maritime environments. Sustainment doctrine
  must also evolve to meet the challenges of the multidomain contested operating environment and describe
  how the Army executes sustainment operations.
  Finally, success in operations requires leaders that understand and apply doctrine with judgement and
  discipline. FM 4-0 incorporates a chapter on leadership and training to emphasize the importance of building
  effective leaders and cohesive units. Now more than ever before, leaders must be innovative, adaptive,
  disciplined, and able to communicate at all levels.
  This We’ll Defend!
  MICHELLE K. DONAHUE
  MAJOR GENERAL, UNITED STATES ARMY