Joint/Interagency SMARTbook 1 – Joint Strategic & Operational Planning

Joint/Interagency SMARTbook 1 – Joint Strategic & Operational Planning topics and chapters include Strategic Organization; Planning; Campaign Planning; Joint Operations Planning Overview; Planning Functions; Operational Art, Design, & the Joint Operations Cycle; Global Force Management (GFM); In-Progress Reviews (IPRs); Adaptive Planning and Execution (APEX) and the Joint Operations Planning Process (JOPP); Strategic Guidance/Strategic Direction; Plannning Initiation; Mission Analysis Overview; Joint Intelligence Preparation of the Operational Environment (JIPOE) & Intelligence Preparation of the Battlefield (IPB); Mission Analysis Key Steps; Concept Development (Function II); Course of Action (COA) Development; COA Analysis and Wargaming; COA Comparison; COA Selection & Approval; Plan Development (Function III); Plan Assessment (Function IV); Assessment Fundamentals; Execution; Summary and Appendices.


The dawn of the 21st Century presents a global environment characterized by regional instability, failed states, increased weapons proliferation, global terrorism and unconventional threats to United States citizens, interests and territories. If we are to be successful as a nation, we must embrace the realities of this environment and operate with clarity from within. It is this setting that mandates a flexible, adaptive approach to planning and an ever-greater cooperation between all the elements of national power, supported by and coordinated with, that of our allies and various intergovernmental, nongovernmental and regional security organizations. It is within this chaotic environment that planners will craft their trade.



Joint/Interagency SMARTbook 1: Joint Strategic & Operational Planning (Planning for Planners) was developed to assist planners at all levels in understanding how to plan within this environment utilizing the Joint Operational Planning Process; an orderly, logical, analytical progression enabling planners to sequentially follow it to a rational conclusion. By utilizing this planning process, which is conceptually easy-to-understand and applicable in all environments, any plan can come to life.


This new revision of Planning for Planners incorporates the latest thinking on Adaptive Planning and Execution (APEX), Global Force Management (GFM), Campaign Planning and Assessment Fundamentals. Planning for Planners has been utilized since 2007 by war colleges, joint staffs, Services, combatant commands and allies as a step-by-step guide to understanding the complex world of global planning and force management. Paramount to planning is flexibility. The ultimate aspiration of this book is to help develop flexible planners who can cope with the inevitable changes that occur during the planning process.

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