 Welcome back to the second video in our Doctrine Education series. Our video today will talk about who approves and signs Doctrine and then, we will discuss what is this thing we call Doctrine. Before we delve into what is Doctrine, let's look at one important fact about Doctrine. Who is responsible for approving operational Doctrine publications? Air Force Doctrine Publication 1. The Air Force is approved and signed by the Chief of Staff of the Air Force. AFDP 1 is the cornerstone of all other operational Doctrine and applies lessons learned and best practices that all Airmen should understand. The LeMais Centre Commander is the principal agent to the CSAF for Doctrine and Lessons Learned. The LeMais Centre Commander is the final approving and signature for all other operational Doctrine. Now let's take a look at what makes up Doctrine. Doctrine is overwhelmingly about the organization and employment of forces. It's agreed upon best practices and principles. How do we know what these agreed upon best practices are? First, we get the inputs from the experts in the field. Secondly, we go by history, debate and analysis of Doctrine concepts. And finally, we use exercises, war games and lessons learned from contingencies. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has directed that Doctrine is considered as official advice. That means it is authoritative but not directive. Authoritative means the Doctrine can be traced back to a known source as we talked about above. Think of using the word should instead of must, shall or will. Why is it important? What is the value of Doctrine? Doctrine is valuable because it provides us a guide on how we organize, present, deploy and employ forces. If you use Doctrine as your foundation, you already have a starting point that you can build as necessary instead of starting from scratch. Now, let's take a look at the two key pillars of Air Force Doctrine. The principle of joint operations titled, Unity of Command, is vital to how the Air Force operates in the Joint Force. Every Airman needs to know who he or she works for at all times, and that the ultimate responsibility for operational decisions rests with a single authority. Airmen work for the Air Component Commander, who is responsible to the Joint Force Commander. The key tenet of Airpower, Mission Command, provides Airmen operating in environments of increasing uncertainty, complexity and rapid change with the freedom of action needed to exploit emergent opportunities and succeed. Airmen work for Airmen and the Senior Airmen, the Air Component Commander, works for the Joint Commander. This Senior Airmen is where the operational and administrative chains of command come together. Doctrine provides a common language and frame of reference. If we all use the same understood terms, the chance of misunderstanding is greatly reduced. Doctrine gives Airmen a consistent and teachable approach to Airpower. If you understand what tools you have to use, you can start thinking outside that box the tools came in. This concludes Part 1, What is Doctrine? Be sure to check out Part 2 to understand some terminology and the difference between Doctrine and concepts, and how Doctrine notes fit into the picture. Check out all our Doctrine publications on our website.