Form Follows Function: Sixty Years of Army Force Generation and Structure

Abstract

Extending from the Cold War through the current Era of Persistent Conflict, the Army implemented a number of force structure changes in response to the existing and predicted strategic environment. Similar to the architectural standard phrase that "Form Follows Function," Army force structure and force generating processes each represent a form evolved over time to satisfy the function of projecting military strength. The current Army process of force generation, termed ARFORGEN, serves as the model and process through which conventional Army combat forces are trained, resourced, and certified for global deployment under the Global Force Management processes defined by the National Military Strategy, all within a constrained environment of military end strength limitations, the All-Volunteer Force, and competing combatant command requirements. While still in development and lacking definitive codification, ARFORGEN remains the current U. S. Army force generation methodology to provide ground combat forces to the Joint Force Provider (U. S. Joint Forces Command) in response to regional combatant command requests for forces to support theater strategies and contingencies.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 21, 2010
Accession Number
ADA522968

Entities

People

  • Timothy R. Frambes

Organizations

  • United States Army Command and General Staff College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter WMD
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Human Systems
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Anti-Tank Missiles
  • Business Administration
  • Combat Forces
  • Combatant Commanders
  • Contingency Operations (Military)
  • Employment
  • Lessons Learned
  • Management Personnel
  • Military History
  • Military Personnel
  • Military Science
  • National Security
  • Nuclear Weapons
  • Organizational Structure
  • Personnel Management
  • Unified Combatant Commands
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Maritime Combat Support and Expeditionary Logistics.
  • Software Engineering.
  • Strategic Security Studies