text: Chapter 3
  overall framework established by the CCMD and the theater Army. They provide JFCs with a land
  component command capability for the transition to large-scale ground combat. This enables the theater
  Army to focus on theater-level matters and allows it to synchronize competition and preparation for combat
  activities across the entire AOR.
  3-125. During competition, the field army can deter threats and prepare to transition to large-scale combat
  operations when the risk for immediate, multi-corps, large-scale combat is high. With joint force
  augmentation, the field army may also serve as the JFLCC during competition.
  3-126. The field army, when employed, focuses on deterrence and setting conditions for contingency
  operations should the adversary attack or the decision be made to initiate armed conflict. While the theater
  Army continues to shape the entire theater and address aggression outside this designated AO, the field army
  maintains the necessary formations and capabilities to provide credible deterrence and ensure the ability to
  quickly respond to escalation within the AO. The field army can conduct a land-based campaign against the
  adversary on behalf of the CCDR and, due to its presence, is postured to transition to a JTF headquarters
  should conflict arise. The field army is also tailored in its capability and capacity as determined by the nature
  and capabilities of the near-peer adversary. As the near-peer adversary’s capabilities change, so do those of
  the field army. The following are key activities during the planning process:
  • Prepare for potential armed conflict by conducting detailed analysis of critical adversary systems in
  conjunction with partners.
  • Conduct an aggressive campaign of competition to counter and contain the near-peer threat as an
  integral part of the theater campaign.
  • Maintain the necessary formations and other capabilities to provide credible deterrence.
  • Utilize dispersion, hardened facilities, deception, and multidomain obscuration to create protected
  positions of advantage.
  3-127. The ESC attached to the field army simultaneously plans and synchronizes operations for field army
  security cooperation activities, including joint and multinational exercises, flexible deterrence operations,
  and operations during armed conflict in multiple operational areas. The ESC attached to a field army has two
  operational responsibilities to forces in theater:
  • Synchronize and integrate sustainment support for the field army.
  • Support reception, staging, and onward movement within the field army AO.
  CORPS
  3-128. Army units at the corps and lower echelons execute shaping tasks and provide the forces for security
  cooperation. Army forces may support foreign internal defense or security force assistance by participating
  in multinational exercises, medical and other civil-military operations, development assistance, and training
  exchanges. Army forces at corps echelons and below directly engage with partner forces. Civil affairs forces
  engage with governmental and nongovernmental organizations and civilian populations to accomplish their
  mission, build rapport, and improve conditions to promote stability.
  3-129. When uncommitted to specific CCDR requirements, the corps serves as a tactical echelon that focuses
  on preparation to prevail in large-scale combat. When committed to a theater of operations, the theater Army
  or field army command and controls corps unless the corps is OPCON to a JFC subordinate to the CCDR. In
  such cases, the theater Army maintains an ADCON relationship with the corps due to its theater-wide
  ARFOR responsibilities.
  3-130. During competition, the corps shapes its assigned AO depending on the role that it is fulfilling. As an
  ARFOR, the corps assists higher echelons in their efforts to set, support, and shape operational areas. Corps
  do so by executing operational-level tasks, collecting information, providing bottom-up refinement to
  planning, and participating in activities to posture the joint and multinational force to prevail in the event that
  armed conflict occurs.
  3-131. The CSC participates in multinational exercises and supports readiness of corps units at home station.
  It may be tasked to support specific shaping operations if the scope of the operation and the command and
  control and distribution/materiel management requirements warrant a sustainment command presence. This
  may become important in multinational exercises or large-scale humanitarian assistance operations.