AR 25-30 sorts Army publications by whether they establish policy. Army regulations, Army directives, Army General Orders, and HQDA policy notices do; DA Pams, doctrine (ADPs, ATPs, FMs), and training circulars do not, unless the AR itself says a specific DA Pam is required to implement its policy.
AR 25-30, the regulation that governs how the Army publishes its own regulations, sorts every Department of the Army publication into a table and marks each type Yes or No for whether it "establishes policy." That column is the answer: Yes means the publication can require something of you; No means it cannot, on its own.
A permanent directive that sets forth missions, responsibilities, and policies; delegates authority; and sets objectives to ensure uniform compliance with policies.
AR 25-30, para table 2-1
That is the definition of an Army regulation (AR). It is marked Yes for establishing policy and Armywide in applicability, which is why an AR is the document people mean when they say "the regulation says." Army directives, Army General Orders, and HQDA policy notices are also marked Yes and can also bind you, but each is narrower in scope or duration than an AR: an Army directive is temporary, an AGO covers a specific category of action, and a policy notice applies only within HQDA.
A permanent instructional publication.
AR 25-30, para table 2-1
That is the definition of a DA Pamphlet, and its policy column reads No. A pamphlet does not create a requirement by existing; it explains how to carry one out. AR 25-30 states the one exception in the same entry: unless
mandated by an AR (for example, the AR includes specific language that identifies material in the associated DA Pam as required to implement policy in the AR), procedures established in a DA Pam are for guidance only. DA Pams establish optional or helpful methods of performing missions and functions and define probable courses of action.
AR 25-30, para table 2-1
So a DA Pam is guidance with one named exception: if the AR it supports says in its own text that a specific part of the pamphlet is required to implement the AR's policy, that part binds you too. The pamphlet number alone does not tell you which case applies — the answer is in the AR's own wording, so read the AR before treating anything in its companion Pam as mandatory.
Doctrine — ADPs, ATPs, and FMs — is a third category, and AR 25-30 marks all three No for establishing policy. They describe how the Army fights and trains, not what a Soldier or unit is required to do.
A DA publication that contains techniques; that is, nonprescriptive ways to perform missions, functions, or tasks.
AR 25-30, para table 2-1
That is the whole definition of an Army Techniques Publication (ATP): nonprescriptive by design. A Field Manual (FM) goes further into tactics and procedure but is defined the same way — a description of how operations are conducted, not a directive that they must be conducted that way.
It describes how the Army and its organizations conduct operations and train for those operations.
AR 25-30, para table 2-1
A Training Circular (TC) sits in the same No column — AR 25-30 defines it only as a means of distributing training information that does not fit the Army's other training publication types, with no authority of its own.
AR 25-30 sets this table for Department of the Army publications; it does not classify Army forms, local command supplements, or publications issued by other services. If a citation is to a DA Pam, ADP, ATP, FM, or TC, treat it as explanation until the governing AR is checked for language that pulls a specific part of it in as a requirement.
Army Directive 2026-20 revises AR 25-30's legal-review paragraphs, shifting who signs off on DA policy publications between the General Counsel and The Judge Advocate General. It does not touch Table 2-1 or the definitions of AR, DA Pam, ADP, ATP, FM, or TC, so the classification above is unaffected.