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Rack MC – Capabilities Development
Aisle M — Modernization
Library: Main Page — Professional Development (A) — Defense Enterprise (E) — Force Structure (F) — Modernization (M) — Personnel (P) — Readiness (R) — Special Enterprises (S) — Resource Management (X) — References (Z)
Modernization (M): Acquisition Frameworks (MA) — Capabilities Development (MC) — Defense Industrial Base (MD) — Program Management (MP) — Requirements Development (MR) — Science & Technology (MS) — Research, Development, Test, & Evaluation (MT) — Major Weapons Systems (MW)
Disclaimer: The inclusion of resources here is for informational, historical, and research purposes only and is provided as a service for US Army War College faculty, students, and graduates to support their educational and professional requirements. These may include outdated or superseded materials. The inclusion of these materials does not constitute endorsement by the U.S. Army War College, the U.S. Army, or Department of Defense.
The Military Services, Defense Agencies, and the Joint community assess, validate and prioritize new requirements using JCIDS, a capabilities-based process created in 2002 at the direction of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. JCIDS is founded upon three guiding principles: (1) Describing needs in terms of capabilities, instead of systems or force elements, (2) Deriving needs from a joint perspective, from a new set of joint concepts, and (3) Having a single general or flag officer oversee each DoD functional portfolio.
The rapidly emerging threats of the competitive environment, the rate of technological advancement, and the commercialization of most technological innovations and advancements create many challenges for the requirements and acquisitions processes. To meet these challenges, the Joint Force often requires capability solutions more rapidly than JCIDS can support. Expedited acquisition processes help to satisfy these requirements, but they also can exacerbate the strategic tension between the short-term, immediate needs of the Combatant Commanders and the long-term capability needs of the future force. Several new DoD initiatives are underway to reform the traditional acquisition models in order to maintain pace with the contemporary environment, find better balance between short and long-term requirements, and more effectively leverage innovative advancements.
This rack provides resources associated with the capabilities development process, including the JCIDS (Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System) and respective service systems. Although capabilities and requirements development (rack MR) have become more integrated procedurally, the underlying theoretical frameworks are different and therefore kept on different racks.
This shelf contains general resources on on theories of acquisition and acquisition systems, their development and implementation, and associated transformation efforts. The rack will include shelves for each of the service acquisition strategies.
Faculty Publications:
- Arrieta, David. “Working Paper: An Introduction to Defense Capabilities,” synthesis of Chapters 4-7 of the 2010 edition of the Defense Acquisition Guidebook (Carlisle, PA: Department of Command, Leadership, and Management, 2013). Available on request.
- Army Force Management School, “Capabilities Development and System Acquisition Management: Executive Primer”: Version 17.0 (2012) | Version 18.0 (2013)
- AcqNotes, “DoD JCIDS Process Overview,” Department of Defense, Washington, DC, November 4, 2012, video, 5:58, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfSCqy-riTQ
Laws, Policies, Memos, and Regulations (sorted by regulation number):
- Army G-8, Force Development Division, Standard Operating Procedures for JCIDS Document Review Staffing and Affordability Assessments, May 2013.
- Army TRADOC, Capability Development Document (CDD) Writer’s Guide, version 3.11, 2012.
- Army TRADOC, Capability Production Document (CPD) Writer’s Guide, version 3.11, 2012.
- Army TRADOC, Initial Capabilities Document (ICD) Writer’s Guide, Version 2.31, April 2012.
- Army TRADOC G-9, How HQDA Runs — Processes That Link Concepts to Capabilities, white paper, December 2016.
- Army TRADOC Regulation 71-20, Concept Development, Capabilities Determination, and Capabilities Integration, June 2013.
- AFI 10-604 – Capabilities-Based Planning, May 2006.
- CJCS Instruction 3170.01, Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System: Version F (2007) | Version G (2009) | Version H (2013) | Version I (2015)
- Note: These are superseded versions — JCIDS and JROC instructions are now combined as CJCSI 5123.01 (2018).
- CJCS Instruction 3401.01E, Joint Combat Capability Assessment, 2014.
- CJCS Instruction 5123.01, Charter of the Joint Requirements Oversight Council (JROC) and Implementation of the Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System (JCIDS): Version I (2021) | Version H (2018).
- CJCS Manual, JCIDS Manual: 2018 Version | 2012 Version | 2007 Version (as CJCSM 3170.01C)
- DoD Directive 5105.86, Director, Strategic Capabilities Office (SCO), November 2016.
- DoD Directive, 7045.20, Capability Portfolio Management, September 2008.
- JCS J-8, Capabilities-Based Assessment (CBA) User’s Guide: Version 3 (2009) | Version 2 (2006).
Strategies and Reports:
- Joint Defense Capability Studies Team, Joint Defense Capabilities Study (Washington, DC: Department of Defense, January 2004).
Commentaries (inclusion does not represent endorsement):
- Jumper, John P., David A. Deptula, and Harold B. Adams, “Integrating CONOPS into the Acquisition Process,” Joint Force Quarterly 55 (4th Quarter 1009): 66-68.
- Miller, Thomas H. “The Need to Overhaul JCIDS,” Defense AT&L 46, no. 1 (January-February 2017): 36-40.
- Van Riper, Paul. “Van Riper’s E-Mail to Pace, Hagee, and Schoomaker Regarding JCIDS,” Inside the Navy 19, no. 3 (2006): 5-7, https://www.jstor.org/stable/24839808
- Requires USAWC student or faculty login to access, contract USAWC Library for more details.
- Also see Deptula, Dave, “Deptula’s Reply to Van Riper’s Concerns,” Inside the Navy 19, no. 3 (2006): 8, https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/24839814
Title image credit: MSG Michel Sauret, Army Reserve Careers Group, public domain.
Modernization (M): Acquisition Frameworks (MA) — Capabilities Development (MC) — Defense Industrial Base (MD) — Program Management (MP) — Requirements Development (MR) — Science & Technology (MS) — Research, Development, Test, & Evaluation (MT) — Major Weapons Systems (MW)
Library: Main Page — Professional Development (A) — Defense Enterprise (E) — Force Structure (F) — Modernization (M) — Personnel (P) — Readiness (R) — Special Enterprises (S) — Resource Management (X) — References (Z)