Quote Originally Posted by William F. Owen View Post
To me, Doctrine is simply "That which is taught" - nothing else. Doctrine should be the teaching of an armed force. What that covers is very debatable, but I am firmly of the belief that a great deal of doctrine fails the primary test of "Why".

IMO, a lot of what some consider doctrine are really evidence free articles of faith, akin to religious teaching and not really based in an empirical reality that gives anyone any confidence as to it's use.
William,

I agree with your understanding of doctrine; it is a simple yet useful definition. This Joint definition from JP 1, 20 March 2009, with change 1 is similar in highlighting the teaching aspect of docrine but goes a bit further as well:

"Joint doctrine promotes a common perspective from which to plan, train, and conduct military operations. It represents what is taught, believed, and advocated as what is right (i.e., what works best). Conducting joint operations generally involve 12 broad principles, collectively known as the “principles of joint operations”. These principles guide warfighting at the strategic, operational, and tactical levels of war."

Also, your opinion of doctrine unconnected to "empirical reality" seems right. Moreover, competing doctrinal sources, like Army, Navy, Air Force, and Joint organizations, tend to exist to support service specific or individual requirements that do not fit neatly into a coherent concept.
Therefore, individuals tend to use only that doctrine which seems to fit their particular mission. But this causes a potential for failure in multi-service missions where each force possesses a different doctrinal concept. Additionally, Joint doctrine is not a complete solution because, like all compromises, it incorporates only the ideas that everyone agrees with, and leaves out those elements that defy resolution.

For example, Joint Publication 5-0, Joint Operation Planning from 26 December 2006, does not align with FM 6-0, Mission Command: Command and Control of Army Forces; and the concept of effects based operations does not align well between Joint, Army, and Air Force doctrine.

Major Bill Jakola