Headquarters
Department of the Army
Washington, DC, 27 March 2025
Field Manual
No. 3-04
Army Aviation

All aviation operations are planned and executed according to the operations process. Commanders balance deliberate employment as a massed force while ensuring a reserve force is available for a flexible and rapid (hasty) response to a contingency. Mass enables the combined arms team to gain and maintain situational understanding; control operational tempo; achieve the element of surprise; seize, retain, and exploit the initiative; present the enemy with multiple dilemmas; gain physical, human, and information advantages over an enemy force; and/or prevent an enemy force from gaining such relative advantages. (During the planning and preparation phases of operations, commanders should provide subordinate units time to recover from previous missions or prepare for upcoming tasks; this may affect operations depending on the amount of preparation required.) The aviation brigade’s higher headquarter (corps/division) provides mission tasks, allocates resources, and synchronizes operations. Aviation brigade commanders will determine the appropriate subordinate unit to execute mission tasks, and further allocates assigned resources. Subordinate commander plans and leads detailed mission planning for execution and if required, determines the platforms and task organization. Aviation core competencies, as discussed in chapter 1, are specifically executed through the following operations and tasks: movement to contact, attack, reconnaissance, security, air assault, aerial command and control, aerial retransmission, PR, air movement, aerial munition delivery, aeromedical evacuation (AE), and CASEVAC. For more information regarding aviation operations, refer to ATPATPArmy Techniques Publications 3-04.1.

A-1. Aviation operations and planning resources are found in the aviation ATPs and TCs. In preparation for working directly with aviation units, ATPATPArmy Techniques Publications 3-04.1, TC 3-04.5, and the Aviation Handbook provide a foundation for planning, execution, and common checklists, forms, briefs, and products used in aviation operations. A-2. ATPATPArmy Techniques Publications 3-04.1 provides techniques for planning, preparation, and execution of aviation tasks. It provides problem-solving guidance for company-level leaders throughout Army Aviation as they plan, prepare, execute, and assess these tasks. It also provides considerations for expeditionary aviation operations. The primary audience for ATPATPArmy Techniques Publications 3-04.1 is junior leaders at brigade level and below, but it is also applicable to other members of the profession of arms. A-3. ATPATPArmy Techniques Publications 3-04.1 and the Aviation Handbook contain support requests, forms, briefs, checklists, and documents most often used during aviation operations. These documents include the array of required and optional forms that assist in the mission planning process and used during mission execution. The Aviation Handbook is Annex A of the Aviation Branch SOPSOPStandard Operating Procedures developed to rapidly consolidate operations, techniques, and supporting forms and checklists; these will be incorporated into ATPATPArmy Techniques Publications 3-04.1. A-4. Support requests, briefs, checklists, and kneeboard cards used for planning and execution of aviation operations and are found in ATPATPArmy Techniques Publications 3-04.1, TC 3-04.5, and the Aviation Branch SOPSOPStandard Operating Procedures, Annex A. This page intentionally left blank.

B-1. Aviation operations are inherently risky even during routine peacetime or limited contingency operations. In large-scale combat operations, many aviation operations become high-risk, high-reward missions. Commanders must appropriately mitigate risks to provide continued support to the ground maneuver commander. B-2. Risk management is a critical process that contributes to the endurance of an aviation force. It identifies hazardous environments and helps commanders eliminate, reduce, or minimize risk associated with mission and operational requirements to protect assets. It is integral throughout the planning process, and directly contributes to the availability of aircrews, aircraft, and the associated equipment that are critical to mission support and accomplishment. B-3. Commanders balance between protecting the force and accepting risks to achieve military objectives. Commanders must adequately plan and prepare for operations based on a comprehensive understanding of the OE. Commanders collaborate and dialog with subordinates when deciding how much risk to accept and how to minimize the effects of risk. It is important to remember that accepting risk is a function of command, and it is a key planning consideration. The commander alone determines the level of acceptable risk with respect to aspects of operations. This level of risk should be expressed in the commander’s guidance, incorporated into all plans and orders, and clearly understood by subordinate leaders. B-4. In large-scale combat operations, commanders of aviation units must continually fight for information to see, understand, create, and exploit advantages. Aviation missions are frequently conducted without perfect information, and understanding the threats associated with the enemy, the terrain, and the weather all inform a commander’s level of risk-acceptance. Table B-1 lists examples of considerations that commanders should review when identifying risks. For more information about risk management, refer to ATPATPArmy Techniques Publications 5-19.

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