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July 1, 2014

Investing in the Minds of Future Leaders

As the Joint Force prepares for the challenges and opportunities of tomorrow, our focus is not simply on military power and platforms. We are laser-focused on leadership. It is the all-volunteer force and its leaders—our people—who remain our greatest strategic asset and the best example of the values we represent to the world.

July 1, 2014

Executive Summary

In a recent meeting I had with a senior military leader, the discussion turned to an assessment of where the Armed Forces are today. His view was that while we are ending a long period of combat that has engaged all the Services to varying degrees, we are not likely to return to any kind of peacetime period as in the past. We are more likely to see a far smaller force that is surging while in Phase Zero, or preconflict operations. Many see the Services, running on a wartime footing for longer than any period in U.S. history, as worn out both materially and psychologically to varying degrees—with the Army being in the poorest shape. Yet the remaining force remains highly active in terms of operations to maintain the Nation’s defense. Now with continuing budgetary pressures and declining resources from Congress, the Services are making hard choices about what they must do to preserve and evolve the military instrument of power.

July 1, 2014

An Interview with Mark A. Welsh III

General Mark A. Welsh III is Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force. As Chief, he serves as the senior uniformed Air Force officer responsible for the organization, training, and equipping of 690,000 Active-duty, Guard, Reserve, and civilian forces serving in the United States and overseas. As members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Welsh and the other Service chiefs function as military advisors to the Secretary of Defense, National Security Council, and the President.

July 1, 2014

Contexts of Future Conflict and War

The Chairman has emphasized that our forces must be versatile, responsive, and decisive and at the same time affordable. Five proposed contexts of future conflict will help achieve both what is desired and what can be paid for, a planning process that must occur since the force will inevitably change.

July 1, 2014

Tailored Deterrence: Strategic Context to Guide Joint Force 2020

U.S. deterrence is neutered by not clearly defining national security threats and aligning resources accordingly, as in favoring offensive Air-Sea Battle against China against defensive A2/AD capabilities with partners, or preparing sufficiently against regional players such as North Korea and Syria. Plans must accord with actual defense policies and dangers.

July 1, 2014

The Role of U.S. Land Forces in the Asia-Pacific

Washington must not yield to fiscal pressures that erode its legitimacy as a global leader. Its forces must remain capable across the spectrum from the smallest to the largest security challenges and control procurement accordingly, using existing resources and allies in a flexible approach the Army will continue to pursue.

July 1, 2014

Resilient Command and Control: The Need for Distributed Control

Centralized control and decentralized execution has been a fundamental principle of Air Force power projection. It will remain seminal as the Service combines a single commander who weighs strategy and tactics for optimal force employment with Airmen empowered to use imagination and initiative.

July 1, 2014

Conducting Operations in a Mission Partner Environment

Global effectiveness requires the joint force to partner, which in turn requires it to adopt a Mission Partner Environment (MPE) in place of exclusionary SIPRNET security measures. MPE will aid in attaining the Chairman's goal of seamless allied, coalition, interagency, volunteer, private sector, and intergovernmental initiatives based on solid commonalities.

July 1, 2014

Strengthening PME at the Senior Level: The Case of the U.S. Army War College

Adopting the Army Chief of Staff's vision of officers intellectually capable of solving the most cryptic problems at the strategic level, and reflecting the belief that enhanced human capital is the answer to slashed budgets, the U.S. Army War College is undergoing a renaissance in faculty, curriculum, students, and integration.

July 1, 2014

Joint PME: Closing the Gap for Junior Officers

Junior officers have been increasingly responsible for joint duties without the joint professional military education that has helped commanders and joint planners through over a decade of combat. Low impact solutions will help bridge this educational gap so an understanding of joint force employment will exist at the tactical level.