Rack ES – Strategic Planning in the Defense Enterprise

Aisle E — Defense Enterprise

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)

Defense Enterprise (E):  Organization of DoD (EA) — Defense Business Area (EB) — Civil-Military Relations (EC) — Interagency Operations (EI) — Risk Management (EK) — Enterprise Leadership (EL) — Global Context (EN) — Strategic Planning (ES) — Defense Transformation (ET)


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 These may include outdated or superseded materials.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.


This rack explores unclassified strategic plans at the enterprise levels as distinct from warfighting or theater strategic plans. It also includes matters of theory and practice of strategic planning for the peacetime development of forces.

Shelf ES.00 — General

This shelf contains general resources on strategic plans and strategic planning for the defense enterprise. These include matters of roles and missions, joint and service visions, strategic direction, and enterprise planning processes.

Faculty Publications:
Laws, Policies, Memos, and Regulations (sorted by regulation number):
Strategies and Reports:
Commentaries (inclusion does not represent endorsement):

Shelf ES.JS — Joint Strategic Planning System

This shelf includes resources regarding the Joint Strategic Planning System, which is the Chairman’s toolbox for satisfying all the statutory requirements assigned in Title 10, U.S. Code. The resources here are not meant to be comprehensive, as many of the specific tools will be covered by other shelves, so this shelf focuses on the JSPS itself — the CJCS Instruction and related documents plus commentaries about the system.

Faculty Publications:
  • None.
Laws, Policies, Memos, and Regulations (sorted by regulation number):
Strategies and Reports:
  • None.
Commentaries (inclusion does not represent endorsement):

Shelf ES.NC — Network Centric Operations

This shelf provides resources relevant to the strategic planning construct of network centric operations as it was pursued in the 2000s. This is a stub as there are many resources pertaining to this topic not listed here.

Faculty Publications:
  • None.
Laws, Policies, Memos, and Regulations (sorted by regulation number):
  • None.
Strategies and Reports:
Commentaries (inclusion does not represent endorsement):
  • None.

Shelf ES.PX — Adaptive Planning & Execution

This shelf provides resources concerning the adaptive planning and execution framework introduced to the DoD in the mid-2010s. The primary sources available are the two versions of the CJCS Guide.

Faculty Publications:
  • None.
Laws, Policies, Memos, and Regulations (sorted by regulation number):
  • Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, CJCS Guide 3130 (Washington, DC: Joint Chiefs of Staff). 2019 version | 2015 version
Strategies and Reports:
  • None.
Commentaries (inclusion does not represent endorsement):

Shelf ES.QD — Quadrennial Defense Review

This shelf includes resources regarding the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) and other similar products that satisfy Congressional requirements for a comprehensive review of the defense enterprise. Such reviews typically come and go based on provisions of National Defense Authorization Acts. As of 2021, the QDR function is essentially absorbed in other documents. Available here are unclassified versions of QDRs when submitted and commentaries about them or the value of doing these sorts of reviews.

Faculty Publications:
  • None.
Laws, Policies, Memos, and Regulations (sorted by regulation number):
  • None.
Strategies and Reports:
Commentaries (inclusion does not represent endorsement):

Shelf ES.ZZ — Defense, Joint, and Service-Specific Plans

This shelf is reserved for service strategic planning systems and unclassified strategic plans.

Army Strategic Plans
Department of Defense Strategic Plans
Air Force Strategic Plans
Marine Corps Strategic Plans
Navy Strategy Plans

Title image credit:  U.S. Africa Command photo from the U.S. Africa Command website​​​​​​​, public domain.

Defense Enterprise (E):  Organization of DoD (EA) — Defense Business Area (EB) — Civil-Military Relations (EC) — Interagency Operations (EI) — Risk Management (EK) — Enterprise Leadership (EL) — Global Context (EN) — Strategic Planning (ES) — Defense Transformation (ET)

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)