FM 3-35.1: Army Prepositioned Operations

Official US Army Field Manual in Acrobat PDF file format.

This manual establishes the doctrinal framework for the Army prepositioned stocks (APS) program. It describes the missions, duties, and responsibilities of all parties involved in moving APS to an operational area and handing it off to designated Army units. This manual supersedes Field Manual (FM) 100-17-1 and FM 100-17-2.

The changing world environment has led to significant changes in how the Army structures its forces. No single solution will succeed when confronting an adaptive adversary. The Army must retain a wide range of capabilities while significantly improving its agility and versatility. Building a joint and expeditionary Army will require versatile forces that can execute smaller, shorter duration operations without degrading its traditional role in a major combat operation.

At the core of this philosophy is having the ability to rapidly project predominately continental United States (CONUS)-based forces to an area of operations (AO), requiring the involvement of numerous military Services, agencies, departments, and organizations. Its credibility depends on the capability to deploy, in a timely manner, an appropriate military force capable of accomplishing the mission.

The APS program is a cornerstone of the Army’s ability to rapidly project power. The Army has dedicated significant priorities and resources to ensure the readiness and availability of APS. APS has become a significant deterrent for potential enemies in recent contingencies. These stocks—identified as APS-1 (CONUS), APS-2 (Europe), APS-3 (Afloat), APS-4 (Northeast Asia), and APS-5 (Southwest Asia)—are available to support all combatant commanders’ (CCDR) missions, not only in contingencies, but also for major exercises.

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