Interagency Coordination: Strengthening the Link between Operational Art and the Desired End State

摘要

The thesis of this paper is that the interagency coordination process must be formalized down to the operational level while explicitly incorporating post-hostilities planning into operational art doctrine. By failing to properly plan and coordinate post hostilities actions within the interagency environment of the United States Government, the Desired End State tends to get lost in the aftermath of a conflict. The lessons learned from Operations PROMOTE LIBERTY, Panama, and UPHOLD DEMOCRACY, Haiti, reveal that the DoD does not coordinate well within the interagency environment. Crisis Action Planning routinely occurs with in a 'close-hold' environment under the guise of operational security. This eliminates the realization of any potential benefits derived from coordination within the interagency arena. Military combat actions are only one facet contributing to the realization of an overall Desired End State. What must take place is an explicit recognition within joint doctrine that not only must post- hostilities operations be planned for, but, to be successful, the planning must be accomplished in the interagency environment as part of operational art. The JTF commander must focus on the desired End State to ensure the success of his operation and he must do this in conjunction with other government agencies. As joint doctrine states, 'military victory is measured in the achievement of the overall political aim and associated termination objectives'.