Measuring Strategic Readiness

Author : Timothy Griffith
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (139 download)

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Download or read book Strategic Readiness written by Timothy Griffith and published by . This book was released on 2021 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Today, the American people are faced with more challenges than they have ever been faced with before. Challenges that are so complex, diverse, intertwined, and further complicated by factors such as globalization, climate change, authoritarianism, and technology that it is becoming extremely difficult to predict what the future of national security will hold. Simultaneously, the difficulty in establishing and maintaining a consistently resourced and coordinated strategy is muddled by partisan politics, annual budgets, a 4-year Presidential election cycle, and an unstable and unpredictable security environment. It is crucial that the United States, specifically the Department of Defense (DoD), develops a Strategic Readiness methodology by which its most important security strategies can be assessed periodically against the objectives that define them in a way that is credible to the whole of government. Strategic readiness is the comprehensive assessment of not only operational readiness data but the holistic view of how the DoD is meeting the objectives of the National Defense Strategy. Today, the Defense Department focuses their readiness efforts on individual problem sets, centered around U.S. strategic competitors. These problem sets encompass primary and supporting operational plans that are not always resource and readiness informed. Readiness efforts are also focused on establishing readiness goals based on supply versus demand from the Combatant Commanders. It is evidently clear after reviewing the current policies and procedures in place that the DoD lacks a Strategic Readiness methodology. The current readiness system is myopic and puts too much focus on operational and tactical level concerns. Research has shown that the methodology by which readiness is reported and tracked is solely based on objective metrics and plans. The current assessment methodology is effective at assessing operational readiness, but it was not designed to address strategic issues such as long-term strategic competition, rapid dispersion of technologies, and new concepts of warfare. It is important to understand that readiness defines not only the material capabilities to wage war but the non-material capabilities to train and equip forces and more importantly, the education and support mechanisms that build a resilient and ready force. The operational aspect, which is where the DoD focuses its readiness efforts, only represents the surface of the true definition of readiness. This paper offers a novel methodology to holistically assess strategic readiness. The methodology described in this paper facilitates the analysis of seven strategic readiness dimensions including: operational readiness, lethality, global posture, mobilization readiness, sustainment readiness, resiliency, and allies and partners. By assessing them individually and then collectively, against the National Defense Strategy objectives, a holistic assessment can be published and utilized to assess the DoD’s effectiveness at meeting their overall strategy. This methodology provides the DoD a dynamic tool that is easily modifiable as strategic objectives change or as the strategy changes based on real world events or changes in political administrations. More importantly, the DoD can use the results of the assessment to course correct the strategy and refine their approaches to meeting national security objectives. It is imperative that the DoD takes every step necessary to maintain an advantage against near-peer adversaries like China. Every dollar spent, training hour utilized, and decision delayed risks the ability of the U.S. to compete in the future. Without making corrections now to the comprehensive understanding of readiness, the DoD will be behind in great power competition for years to come. Due to the bureaucracy of how the government and DoD functions, decisions made now will have an impact for decades to come. Evidence of this is the 20-year acquisition timeline for the F-35 and multiple failed programs, mis-managed from their onset and by many measures, an inefficient use of government resources now under fire from the House Armed Services Committee Chairman. By not making corrections along the way and adjusting resources to meet higher priority needs and requirements, the DoD will not be as effective as possible. A feedback mechanism with actionable information is necessary to aid in this area and assist senior leaders in steering the department towards success. I recommend that the DoD adopts such a strategic readiness assessment methodology, built off the current statutory requirements for operational readiness. At the highest level, Congress should amend the National Defense Authorization Act to include updates to Title 10, sections 117 and 153, and mandate, at a minimum, an annual Strategic Readiness Assessment. This assessment should be briefed to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees prior to annual budget debates and in conjunction with SECDEF and CJCS testimony. The intent of the assessment would be to inform budget decisions with respect to strategy and provide actionable information for senior leaders and congress. The Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness (OSD P&R) would be primarily responsible for authoring the assessment and would rely heavily on other experts to inform the assessment. Along with the Strategic Readiness Assessment, OSD P&R should host bi-annual strategy development conference to review the strategy and provide updates to senior leaders and congress. Visualization of the assessment is critically important in ensuring that senior leaders understand the information and the impact of decisions made daily. Using the current Defense Readiness Reporting System Strategic, I recommend that a strategic readiness tool be implemented and employed in a dashboard type format, and example which you will see in Chapter 4. This program will allow stakeholders to implement their assessments, and using artificial intelligence, see the impact of not only operational decisions but strategic decisions. The DoD needs to take advantage of every opportunity to stay ahead of a rising Chinese global power. Every domain, every decision, and every task will have a role in the strategic race. It is imperative that the DoD thinks innovatively about how it measures strategic success and how it uses data to inform tactical and operational decisions that may unknowingly have strategic impacts. The comprehensive strategic readiness of the DoD is an area of immense value if measured and assessed honestly. After demonstrating effective utilization of the strategic readiness assessment methodology, the DoD should share its assessment and results with other government agencies such as the Department of State and the Department of Treasury to truly reinforce the whole of government approach that is so desperately needed in great power competition."--Executive summary.