- Section
Staff & Admin Aids
OPORD and WARNORD formats, memorandums, staff estimates, personnel actions, and the forms behind each one.
- Reference
Staff sections: who owns what
S-1 through S-9 and what each section is responsible for, plus the difference between the coordinating, special, and personal staff.
- FM 6-0Publication
Commander and Staff Organization and Operations
FM 6-0 is how a staff is organized and how it actually runs: staff sections and their duties, running estimates, briefings, rehearsals, and command post operations. When the 2022 edition was published, the planning material moved out to FM 5-0. Use the two together.
- DA 1594Form
Daily Staff Journal or Duty Officer's Log
The running log of incidents, messages, and actions taken during a shift in a CP, staff duty desk, or TOC.
- Reference
Running estimates and the staff's continuous work
A running estimate is a staff section's continuously updated assessment of its area. It is what makes a staff recommendation useful at two in the morning instead of two days later.
- ATP 4-90Publication
Brigade Support Battalion
ATP 4-90 covers the organization and employment of the brigade support battalion: how it is structured, how it supports a brigade combat team, and how the brigade support area is run. The January 2026 edition supersedes the June 2020 version. It is the working reference for BSB staffs and for maneuver planners who need to understand their support.
- AR 600-8-19Publication
Enlisted Promotions and Demotions
AR 600-8-19 is the enlisted promotion and demotion regulation: eligibility, the semi-centralized promotion system for sergeant and staff sergeant, promotion boards, and administrative demotions. It is one of the most frequently revised regulations in the Army, and the promotion point tables change with it. Always work from the edition currently posted on APD, not a saved copy.
- ADP 2-0Publication
Intelligence
ADP 2-0 is the Army's foundational publication for the intelligence warfighting function. It covers what intelligence is for, how the intelligence process supports the commander's decisions, and how intelligence work is organized at echelon. It is the parent publication for the rest of the 2-series.
- ATP 2-01.3Publication
Intelligence Preparation of the Operational Environment
ATP 2-01.3 is the staff process for evaluating terrain, weather, civil considerations, and the threat in a specific operational environment. The 2019 edition renamed the process from intelligence preparation of the battlefield to intelligence preparation of the operational environment, and the posted file now incorporates change 3, dated May 2025. It is a whole-staff product, not just an S2 product.
- FM 3-0Publication
Operations
FM 3-0 is the Army's capstone operations manual: how Army forces contribute landpower to the joint force and integrate joint capabilities on land. The March 2025 edition builds on multidomain operations and focuses on large-scale combat against a peer threat. If you are on a division or corps staff, this is the manual you argue from.
- FM 3-90Publication
Tactics
FM 3-90 is the Army's tactics manual for offensive, defensive, and enabling operations. It merged the two 2013 volumes of FM 3-90 into one book, so reconnaissance, security, and other enabling tasks now sit with the offense and defense chapters. It is the detail behind ADP 3-90.
- FM 6-27Publication
The Commander's Handbook on the Law of Land Warfare
FM 6-27, published with the Marine Corps as MCTP 11-10C, is the current Army manual on the law of armed conflict. It replaced FM 27-10, which had stood since 1956. Commanders and staffs use it for targeting, detainee handling, and the treatment of civilians and protected property.
- ADP 5-0Publication
The Operations Process
ADP 5-0 is the doctrine for how units plan, prepare, execute, and assess operations, and what commanders and staffs each owe that process. It is short, and almost every staff argument you will have traces back to it. FM 5-0 carries the detailed procedures.
- TC 3-21.75Publication
The Warrior Ethos and Soldier Combat Skills
TC 3-21.75 is the individual Soldier combat skills manual: movement, cover and concealment, individual defensive positions, and the basic field skills every Soldier is expected to have. It pairs naturally with the common task manual for skill level 1 training. It is one of the older publications still carried as active on APD.
- ADP 7-0Publication
Training
ADP 7-0 is the Army's doctrine for training Soldiers and units. It carries the principles of training that leaders apply when they build and defend a training plan. The April 2024 edition supersedes the July 2019 version; FM 7-0 carries the procedures.
- DA 6Form
Duty Roster
Tracks equitable rotation of details such as CQ and staff duty so the same Soldiers are not repeatedly tasked.
- DA 2166-9-2Form
NCO Evaluation Report (SSG-1SG/MSG)
The evaluation report for staff sergeants through first sergeants and master sergeants, rated at the organizational level.
- Reference
Reveille, retreat, and honors to the flag
What to do at reveille and retreat as an individual, in formation, in civilian clothes, and in a vehicle, plus flag display, half-staff, and folding.
- Reference
The six warfighting functions
The six groupings a commander and staff use to organize tasks and capabilities so nothing gets left out of a plan, and the one naming trap boards use to catch people.
- Acronym
APD
Army Publishing Directorate
- Acronym
ARIMS
Army Records Information Management System
- Acronym
ASAP
Army Substance Abuse Program
- Acronym
CID
Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division
- Acronym
CQ
Charge of Quarters
- Acronym
CUI
Controlled Unclassified Information
- Acronym
DODAAC
Department of Defense Activity Address Code
- Acronym
EO
Equal Opportunity
- Acronym
G3
Operations staff section at division level and above
- Acronym
GOMOR
General Officer Memorandum of Reprimand
- Acronym
HQDA
Headquarters, Department of the Army
- Acronym
IG
Inspector General
- Acronym
J3
Operations directorate of a joint staff
- Acronym
MFR
Memorandum for Record
- Acronym
MOU
Memorandum of Understanding
- Acronym
MTOE
Modified Table of Organization and Equipment
- Acronym
NJP
Nonjudicial Punishment
- Acronym
S1
Personnel staff section at brigade level and below
- Acronym
S3
Operations staff section at brigade level and below
- Acronym
SDNCO
Staff Duty Noncommissioned Officer
- Acronym
SDO
Staff Duty Officer
- Acronym
SHARP
Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention
- Acronym
SOP
Standard Operating Procedure
- Acronym
SSG
Staff Sergeant
- Acronym
TACSOP
Tactical Standard Operating Procedure
- Acronym
TDA
Table of Distribution and Allowances
- Acronym
TLP
Troop Leading Procedures
- Acronym
UCMJ
Uniform Code of Military Justice
- Acronym
UIC
Unit Identification Code
- Acronym
XO
Executive Officer
- Board question
How does a Soldier reach the Military Crisis Line?
Dial 988 and press 1. It is staffed around the clock and also reachable by text and online chat.
- Board question
List the enlisted grades and ranks from private through sergeant major of the Army.
Private E-1, private E-2, private first class E-3, specialist and corporal E-4, sergeant E-5, staff sergeant E-6, sergeant first class E-7, master sergeant and first sergeant E-8, and sergeant major, command sergeant major, and sergeant major of the Army at E-9.
- Board question
What is the Command Supply Discipline Program?
The Command Supply Discipline Program, or CSDP, is the commander's program for enforcing supply discipline. It is not a new set of rules. It is a compilation of existing regulatory requirements pulled together into checklists that commanders and staff use to evaluate supply operations at every level, identify shortfalls, and fix them. AR 710-2 establishes it.