MAGAZINE
SPRING 2021
The ARRC Tactical Planning Handbook : Developing Corps Warfighting Doctrine During a Pandemic
Designation : NATO Warfighting Corps Although HQ ARRC ’ s ‘ framework nation ’ is the United Kingdom , comprising approximately sixty percent of the overall staff , the ARRC is fully multinational in nature and organisation , with twenty-one NATO contributing nations and has in the past had representation from Sweden and New Zealand . The headquarters was selected to become the first HQ since the end of the Cold War to be certified as a warfighting headquarters . In and amongst the process of achieving NATO validation , the requirement to reexamine and develop a tactical planning process was identified and outlined .
Pandemic planning doctrine Like the majority of its participant countries , there are defined delineations between the different levels of planning and as such , NATO adopts several complementary planning methodologies dependent on the sphere of the response . At the strategic level , the North Atlantic Council ( NAC ) uses the NATO Defence Planning Process ( NDPP ) 1 and NATO Crisis Management Process ( NCMP ). Figure 1 shows how the various NATO planning methods align horizontally and vertically during the planning of a crisis response . The military strategic level seeks to translate political-strategic guidance into military-strategic direction for the operational commander , and to establish at the strategic level the conditions necessary for the operational commander to plan and execute the mission . Operations planning is oriented towards a NATO end state and strategic objectives ( military and non-military ) established by NATO ' s political-military authorities and carried out within the political limitations and resource constraints set by these authorities . At the operational level , planning seeks to transform strategic direction into a scheduled series of integrated military actions , carried out by joint forces , to achieve operational objectives efficiently and with acceptable risks2 . Planning at the operational level is undertaking using the Comprehensive Operational Planning Doctrine ( COPD ).
1 - NATO . 2018 . Defence Planning Process . [ online ] Available at : < https :// www . nato . int / cps / en / natolive / topics _ 49202 . htm > [ Accessed 8 December 2020 ].
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2 - ALLIED COMMAND OPERATIONS COMPREHENSIVE OPERATIONS PLANNING DIRECTIVE ( COPD ) INTERIM V2.0 [ online ] Available at : https :// www . act . nato . int / images / stories / events / 2015 / sfpdpe / copd _ v20 . pdf [ Accessed 8 December 2020 ].