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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 These may include outdated or superseded materials.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.
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:
- Cerami, Joseph R. and James F. Holcomb. U.S. Army War College Guide to Strategy (Carlisle, PA: Department of National Security and Strategy, 2001).
- Filiberti, Ed. “National Strategic Guidance: Do We Need a Standard Format?” Parameters 25, no. 1 (Autumn 1995): 42-54.
Laws, Policies, Memos, and Regulations (sorted by regulation number):
- CJCS, Strategy, Joint Doctrine Note 2-19, 2019.
- CJCS, Joint Vision Implementation Master Plan, CJCS Instruction 3010.02A (Washington, DC: Joint Chiefs of Staff, 2001).
- Clinton, William J. Managing Complex Contingency Operations, Presidential Decision Directive/NSC-56 (Washington, DC: The White House, 1997). Declassified.
Strategies and Reports:
- Beers, Clay, et al. Zone Defense: A Case for Distinct Service Roles and Missions (Washington, DC: Center for a New American Security, 2014), https://www.cnas.org/publications/reports/zone-defense-a-case-for-distinct-service-roles-and-missions.
- Edelman, Eric and Gary Roughead (Co-Chairs), Providing for the Common Defense: The Assessment and Recommendations of the National Defense Strategy Commission (Washington, DC: U.S. Institute of Peace, 2018).
Commentaries (inclusion does not represent endorsement):
- Haddick, Robert. “The Pentagon Needs a New Way of War,” War on the Rocks, March 18, 2014, https://warontherocks.com/2014/03/the-pentagon-needs-a-new-way-of-war/
- Hicks, Kathleen H., “Defense Strategy and the Iron Triangle of Painful Trade-Offs,” Center for Strategic and International Studies, June 22, 2017, https://defense360.csis.org/defense-strategy-and-the-iron-triangle-of-painful-tradeoffs/
- Mazarr, Michael J. et al., The U.S. Department of Defense’s Planning Process: Components and Challenges (Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2019), Summary, https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR2173z2.html
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):
- Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Joint Strategic Planning System, CJCS Instruction 3100.01 (Washington, DC: Joint Chiefs of Staff). Version F (2024) | Version E (2021) | Version D (2018) | Version C (2015) | Version B (2008).
Strategies and Reports:
- None.
Commentaries (inclusion does not represent endorsement):
- Cordesman, Anthony H. “Reforming Defense Decisionmaking: Taking Responsibility and Making Meaningful Plans,” Center for Strategic and International Studies, March 11, 2009, https://www.csis.org/analysis/reforming-defense-decisionmaking.
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:
- Gonzalez, Daniel, et al. Network-Centric Operations Case Study: The Stryker Brigade Combat Team (Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2005), https://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG267-1.html
- Wilson, Clay. Network Centric Operations: Background and Issues for Congress, Report #RL32411 (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 2007).
Commentaries (inclusion does not represent endorsement):
- None.
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):
- Price, John F. “The Downfall of Adaptive Planning,” Air & Space Power Journal (March-April 2012): 118-131, https://www.airuniversity.af.edu/Portals/10/ASPJ/journals/Volume-26_Issue-2/Price.pdf
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:
- 1997 Quadrennial Defense Review
- Department of Defense, Quadrennial Defense Review 1997 (Washington, DC: Department of Defense, 1997).
- 2001 Quadrennial Defense Review
- Department of Defense, Quadrennial Defense Review 2001 (Washington, DC: Department of Defense, 2001).
- 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review
- Department of Defense, Quadrennial Defense Review 2006 (Washington, DC: Department of Defense, 2010).
- 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review
- Department of Defense, Quadrennial Defense Review 2010 (Washington, DC: Department of Defense, 2010).
- U.S. Institute of Peace, The QDR in Perspective: Meeting America’s National Security Needs in the 21st Century (Washington, DC: United States Institute of Peace, 2010).
- 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review
- Department of Defense, Quadrennial Defense Review 2014, Part II: Strategy (Washington, DC: Department of Defense, 2014).
- Dale, Catherine. The 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) and Defense Strategy: Issues for Congress, Report #R43403 (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 2014).
- Perry, William J. and John P. Abizaid (eds.), Ensuring a Strong U.S. Defense Force: The National Defense Panel Review of the 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review, Advance Copy (Washington, DC: United States Institute for Peace, 2014).
Commentaries (inclusion does not represent endorsement):
- Brimley, Shawn and Loren Dejonge Shulman, “Au Revoir QDR,” War on the Rocks, June 15, 2016, https://warontherocks.com/2016/06/au-revoir-qdr/.
This shelf is reserved for service strategic planning systems and unclassified strategic plans.
Army Strategic Plans
- Army, Army Strategic Planning Guidance 2012 (Washington, DC: Department of the Army, 2012).
- Also, Army, Army Vision: Strategic Advantage in a Complex World (Washington, DC: Department of the Army, 2012).
- Army, Army Strategic Planning Guidance, 2006-2021 (Washington, DC: Department of the Army, n.d.).
- National Commission on the Future of the Army, Final Report (Washington, DC: NFCA, 2016).
- Carlisle Scholars Program, The Total Army, The Root Report (Carlisle, PA: U.S. Army War College, 2016).
Department of Defense Strategic Plans
- Department of Defense, 2008 Strategic Management Plan.
- Department of Defense, 2009 Strategic Management Plan.
Air Force Strategic Plans
- Department of the Air Force, Air Force Space Command – Strategic Master Plan FY06 and Beyond, 2005.
- AFI 10-208, Continuity of Operations (COOP) Program, October 2018.
Marine Corps Strategic Plans
- Kozloski, Robert P. “Marching Toward the Sweet Spot: Options for the US Marine Corps in a Time of Austerity,” Naval War College Review 66, no. 3 (2013): 10-37.
Navy Strategy Plans
- Department of the Navy, Design for Maintaining Maritime Superiority (Washington, DC: Department of the Navy, 2018).
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)