# Force protection

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This article is about the military concept. For the military contractor, see [Force Protection Inc](/source/Force_Protection_Inc).

**Force protection** (**FP**) is the concept of protecting military personnel, family members, civilians, facilities, equipment and operations from threats or hazards in order to preserve [operational effectiveness](/source/Operational_effectiveness) and contribute to mission success.[1][2][3] It is used as a doctrine by members of [NATO](/source/NATO).[3]

The concept of force protection was initially created after the [Beirut barrack bombings](/source/1983_Beirut_barracks_bombing) in [Lebanon](/source/Lebanon) in 1983. With its [Cold War](/source/Cold_War) focus toward potential adversaries employing large conventional military forces at the time (e.g., the [Soviet Union](/source/Soviet_Union), etc.), the [U.S. military](/source/United_States_Armed_Forces) had become complacent and predictable with regard to asymmetric attacks by state and non-state actors employing terrorist and guerrilla methodologies [citation needed]. As a result, during what were ostensibly peacekeeping operations by a U.S. Marine Corps landing force ashore in Lebanon in 1983, two explosives-laden civilian trucks were able to breach the perimeter of the Marines' containment area and detonate the [car bombs](/source/Car_bomb) adjacent to the Marines' billeting areas.

Force protection was subsequently implemented throughout the Defense Department (and later adopted by the Coast Guard) to ensure that such a scenario never happened to U.S. forces again. Force protection itself is characterized by changing protective tactics to avoid becoming predictable.[4]

## See also

- [Pentagon Force Protection Agency](/source/Pentagon_Force_Protection_Agency)
- [Maritime Force Protection Unit](/source/Maritime_Force_Protection_Unit)
- [United States Air Force Security Forces](/source/United_States_Air_Force_Security_Forces)
- [Force Protection Condition](/source/Force_Protection_Condition)
- [Base defense operations center](/source/Base_defense_operations_center)
- [Quick reaction force](/source/Quick_reaction_force)
- [RNZAF Force Protection](/source/RNZAF_Force_Protection)
- [People's Liberation Army Rocket Force Special Operations Group](/source/People's_Liberation_Army_Rocket_Force#Other_branches), a missile base guard unit
- [Nuclear Protection and Security Corps](/source/Nuclear_Protection_and_Security_Corps)

## References

1. ["Force Protection"](https://www.cnic.navy.mil/om/operating_forces_support/force_protection/). [Commander, Navy Installations Command](/source/Commander,_Navy_Installations_Command). Retrieved 14 August 2021.

1. ["DOD Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms, November 2019"](https://web.archive.org/web/20200218033724/https://www.jcs.mil/Portals/36/Documents/Doctrine/pubs/dictionary.pdf). Archived from [the original](https://www.jcs.mil/Portals/36/Documents/Doctrine/pubs/dictionary.pdf) on 2020-02-18. Retrieved 2020-01-03.

1. ["Allied Joint Doctrine for Force Protection"](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/454616/20150804-AJP_3_14_Force_Protection_Secured.pdf). *Ministry of Defence*. Retrieved 14 August 2021.

1. ["Guided Discussion - Force Protection"](https://web.archive.org/web/20151123134710/http://www.mcu.usmc.mil/sites/leadership/fidelity/VBLT/Force%20Protection%20Guided%20Discussion.pdf). Archived from [the original](http://www.mcu.usmc.mil/sites/leadership/fidelity/VBLT/Force%20Protection%20Guided%20Discussion.pdf) on 2015-11-23. Retrieved 2015-11-10.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Force protection](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Force_protection) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Force_protection?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.