Planning for Future War: The National Campaign Planning Staff

摘要

The U.S. Government should centralize its campaign planning within the National Security Council (NSC), creating a single planning staff consisting of members from all elements of the Executive Branch. If the United States is to be successful in future conflicts, it will require more than improved coordination among the various departments and agencies of the Executive Branch. It will require a fundamental change to the planning and execution of contingency operations. Although the existing campaign planning process does make attempts at interagency coordination, it produces plans that have inadequate detail as to what nonmilitary capabilities are available to support operations, and the employment of these capabilities to achieve campaign goals. Initiatives such as the Joint Interagency Coordination Group and the Department of State's Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization have helped to improve coordination, but they fall well short of what is needed for true reform. The assignment of the planning process to the NSC vice the Secretary of Defense and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff will change the focus of campaign planning from purely military operations to a more holistic approach that leverages all elements of national power. The new planning organization within the NSC, to be known as the National Campaign Planning Staff (NCPS), will include members from all of the Cabinet-level departments and will create campaign plans that reflect the national policy objectives and priorities of all elements of the Executive Branch. The NCPS structure will mirror the existing regional combatant command structure and will report to the Deputy National Security Advisor for Planning, a new position. The NCPS's regional groups will develop capabilities-based plans that replace the existing operations plans, concept plans, and functional plans maintained by the combatant commanders.