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Defence

About Defence

DCDC - Doctrine

Military doctrine articulates the fundamental principles that guide how our military forces conduct their actions. It is authoritative but requires judgement in its application. The principal purpose of doctrine is to provide a framework of guidance for the conduct of military operations, but it also serves to underpin our training and preparation. It is about how operations should be directed, mounted, commanded, conducted, sustained and recovered. It is not about historic battles or the medium or far future, but concerns today and the immediate future. It is dynamic and is constantly tested against our wide experience on operations, and against evidence from major exercises.


JDCC Doctrine 1. Opens in a new window.

Key Roles:

Improve national operational effectiveness through better joint doctrine.
Our joint doctrine seeks to provide a common framework of understanding to aid the effective delivery of military capability. Fusing experience in the planning and conduct of joint operations with the detailed knowledge of subject matter experts to provide effective guidance for commanders and staff is the essence of joint doctrine development. Although DCDC has the lead, there exists a federation of key players, all closely involved in the production of our national joint doctrine: namely the Permanent Joint Headquarters, the Joint Services Command and Staff College, and the single-Service warfare centres. The UK’s joint doctrine is organised at three levels:

  • Strategic Level.  This exists in one document - British Defence Doctrine, known as BDD. BDD is a clear exposition of the thinking underpinning the British approach to military operations. It sits at the heart of our doctrinal and training framework and is intended for a wide audience, both civilian and military.
  • Operational Level.  The focus here is on the Joint Task Force Commander and his/her staff. Guidance is contained in UK publication Joint Operations and a hierarchy of capstone publications dealing with each of the J1 to J9 military functions.
  • Joint Tactical Level.  Below these sits a series of more detailed publications covering a wide range of specific military activities. Examples include Media Operations, NBC Defence, and Multinational Logistic Planning.

JDCC Doctrine 2. Opens in a new window.

Contribute to coalition effectiveness through better multinational doctrine. 
The UK recognises the multinational nature of many operations, and the DCDC is closely engaged with NATO and other partners in the development of shared military doctrine for multinational operations. By offering our wide experience in a number of operational environments, we seek to provide a significant contribution to Allied and coalition effectiveness.