Bridging the Gaps: Political-Military Coordination at the Operational Level
Abstract
The political influence that the five geographic combatant commanders, the so-called "proconsuls," wield in the post Cold War era has become a topical issue highlighting the need for better political-military integration at the operational level. Examination of the current doctrine and organization regarding such coordination reveals several significant gaps that, in war and in military operations other than war, impact on both the planning and execution of the "post-hostilities" phase of operations and thus on successful war termination. Current joint doctrine does advocate close interagency coordination at the operational level, but unlike the sophisticated structure developed to do this on the national/strategic level, the doctrine provides minimal guidance on just how the combatant commander can effect this. The division of combat operations into war and MOOTW, moreover, has seen unnecessary duplications and, worse, differences being introduced, obscuring the central State-Defense Department relationship. There is also no effective standing structure for coordination. The ambassador, the key point of contact for the combatant commander under current doctrine, is not the appropriate counterpart for regional coordination. The operational level at State, where regional policy coordination is done, is at the level of the Assistant Secretaries of the geographic bureaus.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 17, 2001
- Accession Number
- ADA393546
Entities
People
- Howard J. Steers
Organizations
- Naval War College