War Termination, Joint Planning and the Interagency Process

Abstract

Over the past fifteen years, the United States military has highlighted its ability to successfully integrate its forces into a highly effective fighting machine. Despite numerous military success, however, the U.S. has not been as effective in making a smooth political transition once the military objective has been met. A key element in each of these failures has been the lack of an effective planning mechanism for war termination and post-hostilities transition. Using Operations JUST CAUSE, DESERT STORM and IRAQI FREEDOM as case studies, it becomes apparent that many of these termination failures are a result of deficiencies at the national level, and not just the combatant commander level. Remedies which exist solely at the combatant commander level are bound to be ineffective. The case is made for a permanent, joint, interagency planning group controlled directly by the National Security Council to deal with the issues of war termination and post-hostilities transition.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 18, 2004
Accession Number
ADA425975

Entities

People

  • Brian E. Souchet Sr

Organizations

  • Naval War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Combat Operations
  • Combatant Commanders
  • Department Of Defense
  • Department Of State
  • Governments
  • Interagency Coordination
  • Iraqi-War
  • Lessons Learned
  • Military Operations
  • National Security
  • New York
  • Personnel Management
  • Security
  • United States
  • United States Central Command
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Joint Military Operations and Doctrine.