Introduction
The military's primary mission is to fight and win our nation's wars. Warfare, by its very nature, is destructive to humans and to the natural environment. Commanders are required to exercise judgment in applying combat power and limit damage inflicted to the extent that mission accomplishment allows. Commanders must plan to implement postconflict stability measures and always keep the health and safety of their Soldiers, Marines, DA civilians, and contractors foremost in their planning. Integrating environmental considerations into the planning process helps the military to identify, prevent, and mitigate potential threats to the environment (including those affecting historical and cultural resources) and potential environmental threats to Soldiers and Marines.
Environmental considerations are not solely focused on protection of the environment. For example, force health protection (FHP) issues may be directly linked to operational affects on the environment. FHP will significantly benefit from the integration of environmental considerations in the conduct of operations. Integrating environmental considerations also sustains resources, reduces the logistics footprint, promotes positive foreign nation relations, and supports postconflict stability efforts. All of these objectives contribute to the effectiveness of the mission and, when properly integrated, serve as force multipliers rather than mission distracters.
The most seamless integration will occur in organizations that foster an environmental ethic, practice active environmental sustainability, and perform an environmental risk assessment as early as possible when planning an operation. Environmental considerations in planning must encompass all aspects of the mission, from predeployment training through redeployment, and include such varied topics as targeting considerations, protecting hazardous material (HM) storage sites, and selecting base camp locations. Environmental considerations will apply to all operations, although a risk assessment may cause their relative importance to vary.
This manual is organized to aid commanders and staffs in their understanding of environmental considerations, and it describes how to integrate and apply them through existing staff procedures. Part One, Environmental Considerations, includes environmental planning in the conduct of operations. Part Two, Command Environmental Program, provides guidance on the development and execution of unit command environmental programs.
• Chapter 1 describes the way environmental considerations apply to operations-to include their implications at the operational and tactical levels.
• Chapter 2 supports FM 5-0 by covering the way that environmental considerations are integrated into planning activities of the operations process, to include their integration into environmental risk assessments and the military decisionmaking process (MDMP). This chapter also discusses integrating environmental considerations into plans, orders, and SOPs and includes a general discussion of environmentally specific planning.
• Chapter 3 discusses what and when to plan. This includes environmental considerations in predeployment, operations, and redeployment. This chapter also includes discussion of environmental considerations within the context of some specific focus areas, including topics such as predeployment environmental training; planning for HM storage, transportation, and disposal; targeting considerations; base camp operational issues; Soldier and Marine health considerations; and redeployment issues.
• Chapter 4 provides guidance on the establishment of unit-level environmental programs, including the development of SOPs and environmental training requirements.
• Chapter 5 provides information on integrating environmental considerations into unit operations in garrison, on deployments, and in training exercises.
• Chapter 6 describes the way that various staff sections plan for and integrate environmental considerations within various areas of expertise.
• Appendix A provides the primary environmental regulations and principal environmental laws applicable to military activities.
• Appendix B provides the formation for the environmental annex and the environmental appendix to the engineer annex.
• Appendix D discusses completing an environmental risk assessment.
• Appendix E provides guidance for conducting an environmental baseline survey (EBS).
• Appendix F discusses HM and hazardous waste (HW) management for field operations.
• Appendix G provides guidelines for integrating environmental considerations into base camp operations.
• Appendix H provides additional information for the environmental officer.
• Appendix I provides an example of an environmental policy letter.
• Appendix J provides an example of a unit environmental SOP.
• Appendix K discusses the information required to complete a material safety data sheet (MSDS).
• Appendix L provides a listing of resources for implementing and sustaining a unit environmental program.
This manual serves as a guide to aid planners in identifying environmentally related issues as they pertain to operations and enables them to integrate these issues into the operations process. While certain tactics, techniques, and procedures identify the way units will accomplish these tasks and vary depending on the situation, this manual provides a common frame of reference to guide commanders and their planners in integrating environmental considerations into the mission.