Force Structure concerns the military forces stationed around the world to support military objectives and our national interests. It addresses the way that the military is designed and organized. Unless readiness that can be characterized as “do we have things right?” force structure is about “do we have the right things? And in the right places?” Although portions of the resource management community tends to narrow force structure down to end strength, for present purposes we take a much broader perspective. Force Structure includes the size, shape, and positioning of the force and involves organizational design of both the combat forces and all supporting elements along with the enterprise that provides the resources and strategies/plans needed to get the forces ready to fight and win.

​​​​​​​Force structure constitutes one ‘point’ of the defense resourcing triangle with modernization and readiness as the other two points. Whereas the latter two discuss decision outcomes that are intangible or uncertain, force structure decisions govern what the military physically has on hand – people, materiel, and infrastructure – and what the military could generate when needed. The essential questions explored in this lesson include:

• How much force structure does the military need to satisfy the requirements of its national strategy?
• How is that structure divided among the departments (Army, Navy, Air Force) and further divided among services, components, branches and so on?
• How is that structure organized into capabilities, such as how many divisions/BCTs or carrier battle groups or wings?
• Where do these forces need to be stationed, and with what capabilities at hand (facilities, land, etc.) to train and ensure readiness?

Put another way – What capabilities do we need? How much do we need? And where are we going to station it? This topic generally gets short-shrift behind readiness and modernization because it is neither glamorous nor easy to grasp. Consider how the “Big 5” exists as a modernization success story, or how leaders all understand readiness even if many define it differently. But both readiness and modernization both depend on the proper design of the force in the first place. Build the wrong force and there is little that any readiness activity can do to overcome it.

— Bob Bradford and Tom Galvin

​​​​​​​Faculty Publications:

• Galvin, Thomas P. and Bob Bradford, “What is Force Structure?” DM Faculty Paper #F-001.
• Bradford, Bob. “What is Force Structure,” U.S. Army War College, 2020, video, https://players.brightcove.net/1146543845001/HyptUINV_default/index.html?videoId=6217167781001
• Meinhart, Richard M. “Joint Systems and Processes,” in Thomas P. Galvin (ed.), Defense Management: Primer for Senior Leaders, 1st ed. (Carlisle, PA: Department of Command, Leadership, and Management, 2018).

Strategies and Reports:

• Congressional Budget Office, The U.S. Military’s Force Structure: A Primer (Washington, DC: Congressional Budget Office, 2016).

Racks in this Aisle:

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Title image credit:  Jim Garamone​​​​​​​ via Defense.gov, public domain.