Army Doctrine Publication ADP 4-0 Sustainment July 2019

This manual, Army Doctrine Publication ADP 4-0 Sustainment July 2019, is the Army’s doctrine for sustainment in support of operations. The doctrine discussed in this manual is nested with ADP 3-0, Operations, and describes the sustainment warfighting function. The endurance of Army forces is primarily a function of their sustainment and is essential to retaining and exploiting the initiative. Sustainment provides the support necessary to maintain operations until mission accomplishment. The relationship between sustainment and operation is depicted in introductory figure-1 on page vi.


Sustainment must be integrated and synchronized with operations at every level to include those of our joint and multinational partners. Sustainment depends on joint and strategic links for strategic airlift, sealift, intratheater airlift, and strategic and theater-level supply support. Sustainment depends on our host nation (HN) partners to provide infrastructure and logistics support necessary to ensure both maneuver forces and followon sustainment are delivered to right place, at the right time, and in an operable condition. This dependence on our joint and strategic links and our multinational partners means sustainment is inherently joint. Through joint interdependence, the combatant commander (CCDR) is able to maximize the effect the Army’s capabilities in an operational area. The Army’s robust sustainment capability assists in providing theater and port opening functions enabling joint forces to conduct strategic and operational reach. Army sustainment capabilities provide the bulk of Army support to other services in the forms of executive agent, common-user logistics, lead service, and other common sustainment resources. Army support to other services enables joint forces with freedom of action and endurance.


ADP 4-0 contains three chapters:


Chapter 1 discusses the four elements of the sustainment warfighting function: logistics, financial management, personnel services, and health service support. It establishes the principles for each of the elements.


Chapter 2 describes the important roles that the United States (U.S.) military and interorganizational partners play during the sustainment of Army forces. It describes joint interdependence and how sustaining the Army and joint forces are linked. It also describes the Army’s Title 10 responsibilities and the roles of the generating force, operating force, interorganizational coordination and multinational partners in providing sustainment. 


Chapter 3 discusses unified land operations in an operational context and continues with a description of command and control of sustainment forces. This chapter concludes with describing how sustainment provides operational reach, freedom of action and endurance to combat forces. 


For the purpose of this manual, the use of the terms sustainment headquarters and sustainment command refers to those organizations that provide one or more of the elements of the sustainment warfighting function.