of the SFA mission. The Department of State (DoS), other
U.S. Interagency and non-governmental organizations, the HN
or partner nations, could provide a multi-layered approach to
seeming conventional military missions. While the military
seemingly may be the sole or primary stakeholder in a particular SFA mission, due to physical security issues or the logistical
capability to transit through an operating environment, the
WG recognized that a multi-layered approach involving interagency coordination was a favorable consideration in a fiscally
constrained environment.
Inadequate coordination with other stakeholders runs the
risk of a mission strategy lacking in unified action, resulting in
mission and or task redundancy and wasting of available funding resources. A dedicated force development staff can mitigate
these risks by incorporating these organizations and their requirements into a collaborative environment to share information and address common problems. This ongoing coordination
will provide the JFC with comprehensive information to make
informed decisions on the alignment of personnel and resources
to the mission at hand and the overall operating environment.
A J7 FDF at the operational staff level must have the adequate
personnel and resources to operate with the various stakeholders within the operating environment. For instance, military
missions are often security focused, part of a greater GCC mission, and usually nested with or complements an existing DoS
regional country plan, which is focused on Foreign Relations
and Assistance issues. DoS will likely have a greater familiarity
with the geo-political environment, and a longer term development strategy in the HN, which the military should be cognizant of. A J7 FDF would address these potentially concurrent
or even competing mission objectives require continued DoD
and DoS coordination. Since military campaigns are rooted in
the eventual transition from military to civilian led control, it is
important that a JFC is able to determine where DoD and DoS
either share the same end state or goal, or ensure their plans are
mutually supporting. Coordination must continually be made
with other Interagency or non-governmental organizations
that may focus more on the civilian population or related issues
that may have bearing on the DoD mission. While a number
of these organizations may rely on the military for logistics and
transportation, the coordination and leveraging of available
personnel, resources, and services can ensure mission efficiency.
Continuous coordination with the HN stakeholder ensures
SFA efforts are properly and efficiently aligned with their
requirements. A dedicated FDF can facilitate the review of HN
needs to ensure alignment with DoS and DoD mission mandates. Where the HN may be focused on the greater security
aspects of its borders, population, and its economic and polit-
ical infrastructure and desire a specific capability or resource,
a FDF can temper that desire by assessing the capacity of that
country to absorb the training, funding, resources, and equipment a joint force may provide to accomplish the SFA mission.
Without an ability to assess this absorptive capacity, the HN
may not be in the position to maintain those resources when
the joint force is no longer available to provide funds, training
or support.
After ensuring the overall mission requirement is fully understood and collaboration has been established with stakeholders,
the FDF can continue to observe and analyze the joint force
mission and ensure stakeholder collaboration over the period of
the mission.
Conclusion:
The PSOTEW “Strengthening SFA Joint Force Management
Processes and Procedures” working group was a success. It
validated and provided valuable insights into the initial JCISFA
analysis. Aided by the information learned a