Effects-Based Operation Planning: 'Convergent' Course of Action (COA) Development

摘要

Effects-based operations (EBO) and the related effects-based approach to planning (EBAP) have now been incorporated into US joint doctrine. In addition to campaign objectives and tasks, effects of those tasks are now taken into consideration during the joint operations planning phase of the campaign. The latest draft version of Joint Publication (JP) 5-0, Joint Operations Planning, does a good job explaining the benefits of EBO and EBAP, but leaves the reader with an indifferent attitude, since the planning process remains basically unchanged. In order to fully exploit the power of EBO, the planning process needs to be altered to allow the actions from one phase of a campaign to be analyzed with respect to their effects on the other phases. The proposed new methodology (the convergent method) forces planners to abandon the thought process that there is only so much you can accomplish in a phase and that the next phase must live with the results. The backwards, or convergent planning model forces planners to find a way to achieve results that ultimately support objectives in the later phases, that in fact more directly produce long- lasting success. This paper describes the convergent method of joint operation planning and a study conducted at the Joint Forces Staff College to refine the method and analyze its utility for the joint planner.