Integrated planning for United Action in Phase Zero

Abstract

This paper will assess the capability of the Department of Defense to plan for Phase 0 at the strategic and operational levels. The paper will answer whether DoD has a method for integrating US national elements of power, policy and planning into a combatant commander's Phase 0 activities. The paper uses the Capabilities Based Assessment (CBA) process to evaluate the DoD capability in four simplified steps: identify the military problem, determine military capability to address it, evaluate the capability, and recommend solutions for shortfalls. It then evaluates the capability using criteria: common problem identification; clear national policy and strategic objectives, identifiable actors at the strategic and operational levels; recognized and practiced tools for planning; and common assessment mechanisms, identifies vital shortfalls in the military capability, and makes recommendations for addressing gaps. The paper finds that DoD does not yet have methods for integrating all US elements of power, policy and planning into a combatant commander's Phase 0 activities. For a military output of unified planning for Phase 0 the US government must provide unified input of national policy, strategic guidance and strategic objectives specifically for this phase. Areas of greatest shortfall were security cooperation or shaping guidance, identifiable actors at the strategic and operational level, and recognized and practiced tools for integrated planning. The most significant recommendations are for the interagency community to provide deliberately integrated guidance for Phase 0. Issues for further study are the Congressional resolution to provide funding to conduct this integrated planning and action, clarifying military terminology for shaping, stability and support to civil administration operations, and the impact of splitting the US Army Civil Affairs strategic capability from SOCOM to report directly to FORSCOM.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 24, 2007
Accession Number
ADA471069

Entities

People

  • Elizabeth A. Medina

Organizations

  • United States Army Command and General Staff College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Combatant Commanders
  • Contingency Operations (Military)
  • Department Of State
  • Foreign Relations
  • Governments
  • Health Services
  • Homeland Security
  • Interagency Coordination
  • Intergovernmental Organizations
  • International Organizations
  • Military Science
  • National Politics
  • National Security
  • Public Administration
  • Unified Combatant Commands
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Irregular Warfare and Special Operations Cyberspace Operations against Adversarial Threats.
  • Organizational Process Management (OPM).
  • Strategic Security Studies