Call us now:
Rack FR – Roles & Missions
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 These may include outdated or superseded materials.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.
How do we divide the work that the military services and agencies must perform, or divide the work within the services? National and defense strategies provide the overall strategic guidance, but it can be complex and challenging to divide the responsibilities among the services and joint/defense agencies. This rack provides resources related to past, current, and future debates over the establishment of roles and missions for each entity in the defense enterprise.
This shelf contains general resources on roles and missions planning for the defense enterprise.
Faculty Publications:
- None.
Laws, Policies, Memos, and Regulations (sorted by regulation number):
- DoD, Military Support to Stabilization, Security, Transition, and Reconstruction Operations: Joint Operating Concept (Washington, DC: Department of Defense, 2006).
Strategies and Reports:
- Department of Defense, Quadrennial Roles and Missions Review Report (Washington, DC: Department of Defense, 2009).
- Department of Defense. Quadrennial Roles and Missions Review 2012 (Washington, DC: Department of Defense, 2012).
- Feickert, Andrew. Marine Corps Drawdown, Force Structure Initiatives, and Roles and Missions: Background and Issues for Congress, Report #R43355 (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, January 2014).
- Knight, William. Homeland Security: Roles and Missions for U.S. Northern Command, Report #RL34342 (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, June 2008).
- Kurtz, James H., Military Roles and Missions: Part Revisions and Future Prospects (Alexandria, VA: Institute for Defense Analyses, 2009).
- Ziegler, Sean M. et al. Aligning Roles and Missions for Future Multidomain Warfare (Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2021), https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA160-1.html
Commentaries (inclusion does not represent endorsement):
- Builder, Carl H. “Roles and Missions: Back to the Future,” Joint Force Quarterly 4 (Summer 1994): 32-37.
- Cohen, Raphael S. The History and Politics of Defense Reviews (Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2018), https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR2278.html
- Evans, Ryan. “Call for Articles: The Military Roles and Missions Analysis that America Deserves,” War on the Rocks, August 15, 2018, https://warontherocks.com/2018/08/call-for-papers-the-military-roles-and-missions-analysis-that-america-deserves/
- Harrison, Todd. “Rethinking Military Roles and Missions in a New Administration,” Center for Strategic and International Studies, Transition46, February 2021, https://www.csis.org/analysis/rethinking-military-roles-and-missions-new-administration
- Kuehl, Daniel T. and Charles E. Miller, “Roles, Missions, and Functions: Terms of Debate,” Joint Force Quarterly 5 (Summer 1994): 103-105.
- Martinage, Robert. Statement Before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Revisiting the Roles and Missions of the Armed Forces (Washington, DC: Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, November 2015), https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Martinage_11-05-15.pdf
- McCoy, Kelly. “The World the Combatant Command was Designed for is Gone,” War on the Rocks, October 7, 2016, https://warontherocks.com/2016/10/the-world-the-combatant-command-was-designed-for-is-gone
Title image credit: U.S. Army historical photo of U.S. forces in World War I, 1917, 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)