Bridging the Planning Gap

<p>After almost a decade of war some senior Army leaders have attributed the challenges experienced in both Iraq and Afghanistan to an inadequate response to complex environmental changes or even blatant misidentification of the problem. Today's global security environment is claimed to be more complex and uncertain than ever before. As expressed in the Army's November 2009 A Leader Development Strategy for a 21st Century Army the Army will require leaders to be effective in the context of ill-defined problems against an enemy likely to present us with a variety of threats. With the vision of fostering more adaptive and flexible leaders fundamental changes were made in Field Manual 5-0 The Operations Process March 2010. Ambiguity over the effective linkages between the Army's conceptual design approach to ill-structured problems and military decision-making process exist in these changes. While conceptual planning is vital to successful operations its benefit is limited if the linkages to the current detailed planning process remain ambiguous. Effectively bridging the planning gap between conceptual planning and MDMP with linkages provides the synergistic and responsive planning necessary to tackle the complex contemporary operating environment. By the metaphor of a bridge the planning gap can be successfully linked. The designer-builders-who are the commander planners and staff-work together to ensure a seamless design and construction. The highway of this bridge is the operations process; the centerline is battle command. The bridge's structure consists of the three arches of design: the environmental frame the problem frame and operational approach. The weight-bearing linkages called trusses include various products and processes that already exist within the operations process design and MDMP. Understanding both sides of the planning gap-conceptual and detailed planning-the designer-builders establish abutments through leadership and interaction.</p><p>This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore you will see the original copyright references library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world) and other notations in the work.</p><p>This work is in the public domain in the United States of America and possibly other nations. Within the United States you may freely copy and distribute this work as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.</p><p>As a reproduction of a historical artifact this work may contain missing or blurred pages poor pictures errant marks etc. Scholars believe and we concur that this work is important enough to be preserved reproduced and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.</p><br>