Tactics Notes Conventions

Rules for authoring notes in tactics/. This garden is a doctrine knowledge wiki (same density and navigation pattern as the intelligence garden). Digests stay comparable, citable, and graph-linked.

Frontmatter (required)

---
title: "Note Title"
aliases: []
tags: [concept, <domain-tags>]
date: YYYY-MM-DD
section: "0N-Section-Slug"
status: seed | draft | stable
source: "Pub designator (edition) or original"
---

Status	Meaning
seed	Scaffold in place: BLUF + origin + planned expansion; navigable
draft	Structure complete; body still thin or unreviewed against the pub
stable	Reviewed against the cited pub; usable as a teaching/reference source

Optional coverage band on or under Doctrinal Framework:

• full - pub directly governs the claim
• partial - pub adapted or summarized at this echelon; adaptation stated
• original - no adequate open pub; authored tradecraft

Concept note spine

Use this heading order for concept notes (aligned with intelligence wiki density). Field procedures and pure MOCs use their own spines below.

1. Core Definition (BLUF) - one tight paragraph; define, then situate.
2. Doctrinal Framework - pub, edition, echelon, coverage; key doctrinal terms and how editions differ if relevant.
3. Mechanics - how it works; numbered phases, tables, or decision logic.
4. Application - how it is used at detachment / small-unit / operational scale; constraints and interfaces.
5. Historical & Contemporary Cases - when known from open sources; omit section only if none are defensible.
6. Related Concepts - enables / counters / pairs-with; wikilinks.
7. Failure Modes - common analytic or execution errors.
8. Key Connections - See also cluster (planning, recon, targeting, influence, etc.).

Write one operational knowledge base. No “civilian transfer” split, no “outside the military” lecture sections, no ethics-reminder blocks. State the mechanics. Readers already know the law of the land they stand on.

Section MOC spine

Section indexes (0N Name/0N Name.md) follow the intelligence garden pattern:

1. Opening purpose paragraph
2. Purpose
3. Scope (bullets)
4. Key Categories (blockquote links to subfolders / note clusters)
5. Key Connections (cross-section wikilinks)
6. Analytical Use
7. Concept Registry (live notes + stubs planned)
8. Read order (optional)

Field procedure spine

For notes under 11 Field Procedures:

1. When to use
2. People (1 / 2 / team)
3. Inputs
4. Steps (5 to 9)
5. Done when
6. Abort if
7. Outputs
8. See also

Taxonomy

Top-level sections are numbered 01 to 13. Sections 01 to 09 are doctrine functional areas, mirroring how the source manuals organize themselves. Section 10 is the applied layer. Sections 11 to 13 are the executable and reference layers. Nested categories use two-digit series matching the parent decade (e.g. 11 to 13 under 01, 21 to 22 under 02). Pattern mirrors intelligence/01 Actors & Entities/11 State Actors/.

Section	Domain
01 Command & Planning	Mission command, planning processes, mission variables
02 Reconnaissance & Surveillance	Methods, pattern analysis, SR tradecraft
03 Targeting & Effects	Target analysis, effects selection, assessment
04 Special Operations Activities	Core activities, irregular warfare, contingency
05 Influence & Information	MISO, MILDEC, information operations
06 Intelligence Support	Analytic frameworks, IPOE, collection, networks
07 Protection & Counter-Surveillance	Detection, counter-measures, force protection
08 Civil Affairs & Human Terrain	Civil affairs, civil networks, human terrain
09 Sustainment & Integration	Sustainment, CF-SOF integration
10 Applied Domains	Crosswalks translating 01-09 into professional practice
11 Field Procedures	Executable cards cut from stable concepts
12 Authors & Doctrine	Doctrinal contributors and key works
13 Library	Source map, reading order, archive pointer

Domain crosswalk spine

Notes directly under a 10 Applied Domains/10N Domain/ folder that carry the domain MOC role use this heading order. They are source: original tradecraft: they assert no doctrinal claim of their own, they map existing doctrine onto a professional practice.

1. Core Definition (BLUF) - what the domain is, who practices it, what it is not.
2. Doctrinal Lineage - the 01 to 09 concepts the domain inherits, as a table: concept, what it contributes, what changes in translation (scale, terrain, product, not ethics lectures).
3. Mechanics - the domain’s own operating cycle, in its own vocabulary.
4. Interfaces - adjacent domains and the intelligence garden dossiers that inform it.
5. Failure Modes - operational errors when the method is run badly or imported unchanged.
6. Key Connections - See also cluster.

Crosswalks cite the doctrine notes they translate, not the pubs directly; the doctrine note owns the citation. Where a domain has open professional literature, cite it. Where it does not, say so and mark the claim original. Do not add “What Changes Outside the Military” or similar reminder sections.

Naming and links

• Note titles are human-readable Title Case filenames: Mission Command.md.
• Wikilink by title: [[Mission Command]].
• Section folder: 0N Name/; section MOC: 0N Name/0N Name.md.
• Prefer one idea per note. Split if a note needs two independent analytical objects.

Sources

• Prefer open Army/Joint pubs (ADP, FM, ATP, GTA, JP where public).
• Cite designator and edition when known.
• Original tradecraft: source: original and state that under Doctrinal Framework.
• Full manuals stay in the private doctrine archive; this tree holds digests only.
• Do not paste multi-page extracts. Paraphrase and cite.
• Cross-link the intelligence garden for actor, crisis, and strategic-concept depth; do not duplicate those dossiers here.

Style

• No emojis.
• No em dashes, in any body or filename (check-enforced repo-wide). Use a hyphen, a colon, or restructure.
• Name jargon, then define it once.
• Offense and defense language are both in scope when doctrine teaches them; stay factual, not theatrical.
• No ethics-reminder blocks, no “lawful civilian expression” throat-clearing, no military-versus-civilian delineation lectures.
• Status and coverage honesty over completeness theater.