Call us now:

+123 456 7890

Rack FA – Force Strategy & Planning

Aisle F — Force Structure

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)

Force Structure (F):  Force Strategy & Planning (FA) — Concepts and Doctrine (FC) — Force Development (FD) — Manning the Force (FM) — Organizing and Equipping the Force (FO) — Force Posture & Stationing (FP) — Roles and Missions (FR)

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 These may include outdated or superseded materials.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.

Strategic Force Planning is the first step in determining what kind of force to build and where to apply precious resources. Led primarily by OSD, this process involves many stakeholders working to align the department to the competitive environment. Force Planning asks and answers some basic questions that help focus the Services as they build the force. What does the force need to do? How will it do the critical tasks? Where does it need to be to accomplish assigned missions?

DoD has standard processes that support answering these questions. The National Defense Strategy and the Defense Planning Guidance (available in the General References aisle) are critical documents that help synchronize efforts and guide resource allocation within the department. DoD must make tradeoffs when designing its strategy and building its force. Aligning ends, ways, and means is not easy, and requires the balancing of strategic risks in an area of uncertainty. These tradeoffs are at the heart of strategic force planning.

This rack is focused on strategy development and planning for an overall service or defense structure. Such strategies should theoretically cover all the component constructs of force structure outlined in the Aisle F page.

Shelf FA.00 — General

This shelf contains general resources on force strategies and planning for the defense enterprise.

Faculty Publications:
  • Crane, Conrad, Michael E. Lynch, Jessica J. Sheets, and Shane P. Reilly, More Bang for Your Buck: Eisenhower’s New Look Policy and the Armed Forces (Carlisle, PA: U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center). Available on request.
Laws, Policies, Memos, and Regulations (sorted by regulation number):
Strategies and Reports:
Commentaries (inclusion does not represent endorsement):

Shelf FA.ZA — Army Force Strategy & Planning

This shelf is for Army-specific force strategies and planning constructs.

Faculty Publications:
Laws, Policies, Memos, and Regulations (sorted by regulation number):
Strategies and Reports:
  • Cancian, Mark F., U.S. Military Forces in FY2021 — Army (Washington, DC: Center for Strategic and International Studies, October 2020), https://www.csis.org/analysis/us-military-forces-fy-2021-army 
  • Klimas, Joshua and Gian Gentile, Planning an Army for the 21st Century: Principles to Guide U.S. Army Force Size, Mix, and Component Distribution (Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, November 2018), https://www.rand.org/pubs/perspectives/PE291.html
  • St. Laurent, Janet, FORCE STRUCTURE: Army Needs to Provide DoD and Congress More Visibility Regarding Modular Force Capabilities and Implementation Plans, Report #GAO-06-745
Commentaries (inclusion does not represent endorsement):

Shelf FA.ZF — Air Force Force Strategy & Planning

This shelf is for Air Force -specific force strategies and planning constructs. This is a stub — please help!

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

Shelf FA.ZM — Marine Corps Force Strategy & Planning

This shelf is for Marine Corps-specific force strategies and planning constructs. This is a stub — please help!

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

Shelf FA.ZN — Navy Force Strategy & Planning

This shelf is for Navy-specific force strategies and planning constructs. This is a stub — please help!

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

Shelf FA.ZR — Reserve Component Force Strategy & Planning

This shelf is for Reserve Component force strategies and planning constructs not otherwise covered by the services. This is a stub — please help!

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

Shelf FA.ZS — Space Force Force Strategy & Planning

This shelf is for Space Force-specific force strategies and planning constructs. This is a stub — please help!

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

Title image credit:  U.S. Army War College photo, public domain.

Force Structure (F):  Force Strategy & Planning (FA) — Concepts and Doctrine (FC) — Force Development (FD) — Manning the Force (FM) — Organizing and Equipping the Force (FO) — Force Posture & Stationing (FP) — Roles and Missions (FR)

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)