Accession Number : ADA403827

Title :   Assumption Based Campaign Planning

Descriptive Note : Monograph rept.

Corporate Author : ARMY COMMAND AND GENERAL STAFF COLL FORT LEAVENWORTH KS SCHOOL OF ADVANCED MILITARY STUDIES

Personal Author(s) : Mosher, Alan M. ; Waters, Brian F. ; Johnson, Robert C.

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Report Date : 14 MAY 2002

Pagination or Media Count : 53

Abstract : After the 11 September 2001 surprise attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon by al Qaida terrorists, planners from all over the U.S. Army were tasked to join an Army planning team to develop the Army's Strategic Campaign Plan (ASCP) in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. The Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Plans (DCSOPS) formed the team around officers from the office entitled DAMO-SS and other officers displaced from the Pentagon due to the damage caused by the terrorist attack. Three School of Advanced Military Studies (SAMS) Fellows based out of Fort Leavenworth, Kansas were part of this team. The purpose of the ASCP was to permit the Army to quickly begin planning and to provide direction for the Army to meet its obligations under Title 10 of the U.S. Code. The Army needed to quickly transition from a peace time to a war time status and be prepared to rapidly respond to directions from the highest levels of the nation, the Joint Staff, and the warfighting CINCs. The ASCP in its final form established the basis for the rapid transition from peace to war. This monograph discusses the challenges of planning at the strategic level of war, the techniques used to address those challenges, and the lessons learned experienced by the SAMS Fellows. This study covers the challenges the Army planning team faced and addresses: assembling the planning team; determining the campaign plan design; using assumption based planning and the Wedemeyer method; developing the plan using the elements of operational design; wargaming; and writing the actual ASCP. The paper also covers the lessons learned during the process of writing the ASCP from a planner's perspective. These lessons learned include insights on assumption based planning, the roles of a planner, and some tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs).

Descriptors :   *ARMY PLANNING, MILITARY OPERATIONS, LESSONS LEARNED, STRATEGIC ANALYSIS, ARMY PERSONNEL, OPERATIONAL READINESS, TEAMS(PERSONNEL), UNCONVENTIONAL WARFARE, TERRORISM.

Subject Categories : MILITARY OPERATIONS, STRATEGY AND TACTICS

Distribution Statement : APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

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