Today It's Gold, Not Purple

摘要

Jointness--the purple paradigm--although a work in progress is outdated and insufficient. Contemporary civil-military operations require a smarter, more complementary approach to global turmoil. Terrorism, counternarcotics operations, peacekeeping missions, sub-state threats, and counterproliferation exceed the capabilities of any one Federal agency. This suggests the need to look at the increasingly vital, albeit extremely difficult, realm of interagency--or gold--operations. To date this potential force multiplier and source of operational problems has been treated casually. The literature reflects the requirement for viable interagency organizations and processes but does not detail how to enable unified cross-agency operations. This article examines the 1980-92 counterinsurgency in El Salvador to highlight factors which determined its outcome, focusing especially on interaction between the U.S. Military Group (MILGP) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Since the end of the Cold War there has been much discussion about the most likely threats in the future and how they impact on force structure, doctrine, and changing paradigms. Although there are few certainties that policymakers can use to predict the future, most would agree on one point: jointness is a military mindset that for whatever reason appeals to civilian and military leaders. While the joint train has already left the station, it will take years for the Armed Forces to institutionalize and comprehensively apply joint doctrine.