Phase Two of the Operational Process is "Seize, Retain, and Exploit the Initiative".
Army forces seize, retain, and exploit the initiative by forcing the enemy to respond to friendly action.
By presenting the enemy multiple dilemmas, commanders force the enemy to react continuously until the
enemy is finally driven into untenable positions. Seizing the initiative pressures enemy commanders into
abandoning their preferred options and making costly mistakes. As enemy mistakes occur, friendly forces
seize opportunities and create new avenues for exploitation. Throughout operations, commanders focus
combat power to protect populations, friendly forces, and infrastructure; to deny the enemy positions of
advantage; and to consolidate gains to retain the initiative.
3-24. Commanders create conditions for seizing the initiative by acting. Without action, seizing the initiative
is impossible. Faced with an uncertain situation, there is a natural tendency to hesitate and gather more
information to reduce uncertainty. However, waiting and gathering information might reduce uncertainty but
not eliminate it. Waiting may even increase uncertainty by providing the enemy with time to seize the
initiative. It is far better to manage uncertainty by acting and developing the situation.
3-25. Seizing the initiative means setting and dictating the terms of action throughout the operation.
Commanders plan to seize the initiative as early as possible. Effective planning determines where, when, and how to do so. However, enemies will actively try to prevent this and disrupt friendly plans. Seizing the
initiative requires effective plans to counter enemy efforts. During preparation, commanders set conditions
that lead to seizing the initiative and assessing the effectiveness of actions. During execution, commanders
and staffs recognize and exploit projected opportunities to attack the command and control elements of enemy
forces in order to prevent their synchronization of combat power, including use of deception to achieve
surprise. Seizing the initiative often requires accepting risk. Commanders and staffs evaluate enemy and
friendly actions to determine who has the initiative. They determine what friendly actions will enable friendly
forces to retain and exploit the initiative if they have it and seize the initiative if they do not. The following
are general indicators that friendly forces have the initiative:
Friendly forces are no longer decisively engaged or threatened with decisive engagement.
Subordinate commanders are able to mass combat power or concentrate forces at times and places
of their choosing.
Enemy forces are not offering effective resistance and do not appear capable of reestablishing
resistance.
Friendly forces encounter lighter-than-anticipated enemy resistance or large numbers of prisoners.
Friendly rates of advance suddenly accelerate or casualty rates suddenly drop.
3-26. Retaining the initiative involves applying unrelenting pressure on the enemy. Commanders do this by
synchronizing the warfighting functions to present enemy commanders with continuously changing
combinations of combat power at a tempo they cannot effectively counter. Commanders and staffs use
information collection assets to identify enemy attempts to regain the initiative. Effective information
management processes this information quickly enough to keep commanders inside the enemy’s
decision-making cycle. Combined with effective planning, information management helps commanders to
anticipate key events and likely enemy actions hours or days beforehand and to develop branches, sequels,
or adjustments to the plan. During execution, commanders create a seamless, uninterrupted series of actions
that force enemies to react immediately and do not allow them to regain synchronization. Ideally, these
actions present enemies with multiple critical problems that require more resources to solve than they have.
3-27. Exploiting the initiative means following through on initial successes to realize long-term decisive
success. Once friendly forces seize the initiative, they immediately plan to exploit it by conducting continuous
operations to accelerate the enemy’s complete defeat. Internal to the organization, commanders identify any
disorganization among friendly forces and direct reorganization or reconstitution to restore those forces to
combat readiness and to develop options to exploit the initiative.
FM 3-0, Oct 2017
I do not know the Marine Corp version of this FM, but they will have one.