Doctrine development has always been a sore subject with me; after all, I’ve written doctrine, and know how it gets made. Very seldom does a lot of thought go into FMs. Generally, the actual writing is done by a low level functionary, often without experience or special knowledge. And as the doctrinal work is passed around for peer review, it gets added on to primarily to show that the various offices get their “chop” in, not with an eye toward improving the product.

I think sometimes that the FMs are just a form of Maskirovka, designed to throw off potential enemies as to how the Army really works.