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Rack RG – Force Generation

Aisle R – Readiness

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)

Readiness (R):  Readiness Strategies (RA) — Defense Service Contracts (RC) — Force Equipping & Sustaining (RE) — Force Generation (RG) — Force Integration (RI) — National Mobilization (RN) — Organic Industrial Base (RO) — Power Projection (RP) — Readiness Reporting (RR) — Defense Sustainment (RS)

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 These may include outdated or superseded materials.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.

Force Generation is about the processes and systems used to manage the potential readiness of the force, what Ken Betts’ referred to as structural readiness. This answers part of Betts’ question concerning readiness for when — which forces could be held at lowered readiness but brought to full readiness and deployed to the fight “just in time.” This is in contrast to what is needed “just in case,” those forces that must be at high readiness now for immediate employment.

All services have force generation processes that manage portions of their active and reserve components at various levels of readiness to meet rotational, emerging and crisis-based requirements. Additionally, all services have related processes and plans that increase the readiness of available forces, deploy “surge” forces, and expand the number of forces to meet mid- to long-term operational requirements. However, the services approach force generation differently as they must balance preparations for war with all the other missions assigned during peacetime. The Army has used several different force generation models in the past several decades – tiered readiness to the Army Force Generation model (ARFORGEN) to the Sustainable Readiness Model (SRM) to the current Regionally Aligned Readiness and Modernization Model (ReARMM). These models each reflect different ways that the service manages and mitigates the risk associated with the structural readiness of the force.

— Tom Galvin

Shelf RG.00 — General

This shelf contains resources pertaining to processes and systems for managing the force generation processes — which is the ability to pre-plan force integration requirements (e.g., “Patch Charts”) so that combatant commanders can rely on the flow of trained and ready forces to their theaters.

Faculty Publications:
  • Galvin, Thomas P. and Ed Filiberti. A Summary of Force Generation Models Past & Present, 2022. Available on request.
  • Filiberti, Ed. Army Force Generation (ARFORGEN) Information Paper, Updated version (faculty paper, Carlisle, PA: Department of Command, Leadership, and Management, 2013). Available on request.
  • Filiberti, Ed., Primer on Force Generation in the Marine Corps (faculty paper, Carlisle, PA: Department of Command, Leadership, and Management, 2014). Available on request.
  • Filiberti, Ed., Primer on Force Generation in the Navy (faculty paper, Carlisle, PA: Department of Command, Leadership, and Management, 2014). Available on request.
  • Filibert, Ed., Generating Military Capabilities (faculty paper, Carlisle, PA: Department of Command, Leadership, and Management):  2015 Version |  2021 Version. Available on request.
  • Galvin, Thomas P. Primer on Force Generation in the Air Force (faculty paper, Carlisle, PA: Department of Command, Leadership, and Management, 2014). Available on request.
  • USAWC Student Publications:
Laws, Policies, Memos, and Regulations (sorted by regulation number):
Strategies and Reports:
Commentaries (inclusion does not represent endorsement):

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

Readiness (R):  Readiness Strategies (RA) — Defense Service Contracts (RC) — Force Equipping & Sustaining (RE) — Force Generation (RG) — Force Integration (RI) — National Mobilization (RN) — Organic Industrial Base (RO) — Power Projection (RP) — Readiness Reporting (RR) — Defense Sustainment (RS)

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)