Envelopment

Envelopment Is a form of maneuver in which an attacking force seeks to avoid the principal enemy defenses by seizing objectives behind those defenses that allow the targeted enemy force to be destroyed in their current positions. At the tactical level, envelopments focus on seizing terrain, destroying specific enemy forces, and interdicting enemy withdrawal routes. The commander’s decisive operation focuses on attacking an assailable flank. It avoids the enemy’s strength—the enemy’s front— where the effects of enemy fires and obstacles are the greatest. Generally, a commander prefers to conduct envelopment instead of a penetration or a frontal attack because the attacking force tends to suffer fewer casualties while having the most opportunities to destroy the enemy. Envelopment also produces great psychological shock to the enemy. If no assailable flank is available, the attacking force creates one through the conduct of a penetration. The four varieties of envelopment are the single envelopment, double envelopment, encirclement, and vertical envelopment. (See figure 1-1 and 1-2) A single envelopment results from maneuvering around one assailable flank of a designated enemy force. A double envelopment results from simultaneous maneuvering around both flanks of a designated enemy force. Encirclement operations are operations where one force loses its freedom of maneuver because an opposing force is able to isolate it by controlling all ground lines of communication and reinforcement. Vertical envelopments are tactical maneuvers in which troops, either air-dropped or airlanded, attack the rear and flanks of a force, in effect cutting off or encircling the force. (JP 3-18). (For a discussion of encirclement operations, see FM 3-90-2.)

References

ADRP 3-90, Offense and Defense, August 2012