text: Chapter 8
  Stability
  The requirement for military formations to conduct operations focused on stability is
  not new. Our involvement in military conflict from the Revolutionary War to Operation
  Enduring Freedom consists of only eleven conventional military operations.
  Conversely, that same history reveals hundreds of operations focused on stability with
  recent history proving no different. Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, the United States
  led or participated in over fifteen operations in places such as Haiti, Liberia, Somalia,
  the Balkans, Iraq, and Afghanistan. While the magnitude of violence may not match
  conventional operations, history often measures the duration of stability operations in
  decades. This fact combines with the disturbing spread of international terrorism,
  fragile states allowing safe haven to terrorist organizations and or possessing weapons
  of mass destruction (WMD), along with an endless array of humanitarian and natural
  disasters illustrates the increasing requirement for operations focused on stability.
  Military formations conduct operations focused on stability to transition the security
  and governance of populations to legitimate civilian authorities. The brigade combat
  team (BCT) lacks the organic capability to stabilize an assigned area of operations
  independently. The BCT’s central role in operations focused on stability is to establish
  and maintain unity of effort towards achieving the political objectives of the operation.
  To do this the BCT employs combined arms formations that execute offensive and
  defensive operations, and stability operations tasks to identify and mitigate critical
  sources of instability. Essentially, the BCT unifies governmental, nongovernmental,
  and elements of the private sector activities with military operations to seize, retain,
  and exploit the initiative and consolidate gains.
  The first three sections of this chapter discuss the doctrinal foundation, stability
  environment, and the Army’s six stability operations tasks for operations focus on the
  stability element of decisive action. Sections IV and V focus on the challenges
  confronting the BCT commander and staff and subordinate commanders and leaders
  in accomplishing stability-focused missions or tasks, specifically area security
  operations and security force assistance (SFA). The final section addresses transition
  to offensive or defensive operations if the focus of the operation changes from stability.
  This section concludes with a discussion of transitions during SFA.
  SECTION I – FOUNDATION FOR OPERATIONS FOCUSED ON STABILITY
  8-1. Stability ultimately aims to establish conditions the local populace regards as legitimate, acceptable,
  and predictable. Stabilization is a process in which personnel identify and mitigate underlying sources of
  instability to establish the conditions for long-term stability. Stability operations tasks focus on identifying
  and targeting the root causes of instability and building the capacity of local institutions. Army forces
  accomplish stability missions and perform tasks across the range of military operations and in coordination
  with other instruments of national power. Stability missions and tasks are part of broader efforts to establish
  and maintain the conditions for stability in an unstable area before or during hostilities, or to re-establish
  enduring peace and stability after open hostilities cease.