The National 

Military Strategy 

of the 

United States 

of America 

 

A Strategy for Today; A Vision for Tomorrow 

2004 
ii
The 

National Military Strategy 

of the 

United States of America 

A Strategy for Today; A Vision for Tomorrow 

2004

iii
 

CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20318-9999 

The “National Military Strategy” conveys my message to the Joint Force on 

the strategic direction the Armed Forces of the United States should follow to 

support the National Security and Defense Strategies in this time of war. 

This document describes the ways and means to protect the United States, 

prevent conflict and surprise attack and prevail against adversaries who 

threaten our homeland, deployed forces, allies and friends. Success rests on 

three priorities: 

First, while protecting the United States we must win the War on Terrorism. 

The attacks of 11 September 2001 demonstrated that our liberties are 

vulnerable. The prospect of future attacks, potentially employing weapons of 

mass destruction, makes it imperative we act now to stop terrorists before they 

can attack again. We must continue to root out transnational terrorist 

networks, sever their connections with state sponsors, eliminate their bases of 

operation, counter dangerous proliferation and establish a global antiterrorism 

environment. This mission requires the full integration of all instruments of 

national power, the cooperation and participation of friends and allies and the 

support of the American people. 

Second, we will enhance our ability to fight as a joint force. Joint teamwork is 

an integral part of our culture and focus as we develop leaders, organizations, 

systems and doctrine. We must continue to strengthen trust and confidence 

among the Service components that comprise the Joint Force. Enhancing joint 

warfighting requires the integration of our Active and Reserve Components and 

our civilian work force to create a seamless total force that can meet future 

challenges. We must strengthen collaboration among our joint forces, agencies 

at all levels of government and multinational partners. Key to such 

collaboration is an improved ability to collect, process and share information. 

iv
Third, we will transform the Armed Forces “in stride” – fielding new 

capabilities and adopting new operational concepts while actively taking the 

fight to terrorists. Transformation requires a combination of technology, 

intellect and cultural adjustments – adjustments that reward innovation and 

creativity. In-stride transformation will ensure US forces emerge from the 

struggle against terrorism with our joint force fully prepared to meet future 

global challenges. 

The NMS serves to focus the Armed Forces on maintaining US leadership in a 

global community that is challenged on many fronts – from countering the 

threat of global terrorism to fostering emerging democracies. In this 

environment, US presence and commitment to partners are essential. Our 

Armed Forces, operating at home and abroad, in peace and war, will continue 

to serve as a constant, visible reminder of US resolve to protect common 

interests. Our dedication to security and stability ensures that the United 

States is viewed as an indispensable partner, encouraging other nations to join 

us in helping make the world not just safer, but better. 

v
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vi
 Table of Contents 

Executive Summary ...............................................................................................................viii

I. Introduction.......................................................................................................................... 1

A. Strategic Guidance........................................................................................................... 1

1. The National Security Strategy ..................................................................................... 1

2. The National Defense Strategy ...................................................................................... 1

B. The Role of the National Military Strategy ........................................................................ 2

C. Key Aspects of the Security Environment......................................................................... 4

1. A Wider Range of Adversaries ....................................................................................... 4

2. A More Complex and Distributed Battlespace ............................................................... 5

3. Technology Diffusion and Access .................................................................................. 6

D. Strategic Principles.......................................................................................................... 7

1. Agility........................................................................................................................... 7

2. Decisiveness................................................................................................................. 7

3. Integration.................................................................................................................... 7

II. National Military Objectives ................................................................................................. 9

A. Protect the United States ................................................................................................. 9

B. Prevent Conflict and Surprise Attacks............................................................................ 11

C. Prevail Against Adversaries ............................................................................................ 13

III. A Joint Force for Mission Success..................................................................................... 15

A. Desired Attributes.......................................................................................................... 15

B. Functions and Capabilities ............................................................................................ 16

1. Applying Force............................................................................................................ 16

2. Deploying and Sustaining Military Capabilities........................................................... 17

3. Securing Battlespace .................................................................................................. 18

4. Achieving Decision Superiority ................................................................................... 19

IV. Force Design and Size....................................................................................................... 21

A. Force Design and Size.................................................................................................... 21

B. Risk and Force Assessments.......................................................................................... 22

V. Joint Vision for Future Warfighting.................................................................................... 23

A. Full Spectrum Dominance ............................................................................................. 23

B. Initiatives....................................................................................................................... 24

VI. Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 27

 

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viii

Executive Summary 

Chairman’s Intent

Our challenge for the coming year and 

beyond is to stay the course in the War 

on Terrorism as we continue to 

transform our Armed Forces to conduct 

future joint operations. We cannot afford 

to let our recent successes cause us to 

lose focus or lull us into satisfaction with 

our current capabilities. The war is not 

over, and there is still dangerous work to 

do. To meet this challenge, we continue 

to focus on three priorities: winning the 

War on Terrorism, enhancing joint 

warfighting and transforming for the 

future. 

Strategic Guidance 

The National Military Strategy is guided 

by the goals and objectives contained in 

the President’s “National Security 

Strategy” and serves to implement the 

Secretary of Defense’s “National Defense 

Strategy of the United States of America.” 

The Role of the NMS

The NMS provides focus for military 

activities by defining a set of interrelated 

military objectives from which the 

Service Chiefs and combatant 

commanders identify desired capabilities 

and against which CJCS assesses risk. 

Key Aspects of the Security 

Environment 

• A Wider Range of Adversaries 

• A More Complex and Distributed 

Battlespace 

• Technology Diffusion and Access 

Principles guiding the development 

of the Joint Force 

• Agility 

• Decisiveness 

• Integration 

Military Objectives 

The NMS establishes three military 

objectives that support the National 

Defense Strategy: 

• Protect the United States Against 

External Attacks and Aggression 

• Prevent Conflict and Surprise Attack 

• Prevail Against Adversaries. 

Desired Attributes of the Force 

• Fully Integrated 

• Expeditionary 

• Networked 

• Decentralized 

• Adaptable 

• Decision Superiority 

• Lethality 

Capabilities and Functions 

• Applying Force 

• Deploying and Sustaining Military 

Capabilities 

• Securing Battlespace 

• Achieving Decision Superiority 

Designing and Sizing the Force 

Executing the NMS requires a force able 

to generate decisive effects in any 

contingency and sustain multiple, 

overlapping operations. The force must 

have the capabilities necessary to create 

and preserve an enduring peace. 

Joint Vision for Future Warfighting 

Sustaining and increasing the qualitative 

military advantages the United States 

enjoys today will require transformation - 

a transformation achieved by combining 

technology, intellect and cultural 

changes across the joint community. 

The goal is Full Spectrum Dominance – 

the ability to control any situation or 

defeat any adversary across the range of 

military operations. 
1 

I. Introduction 

The National Military Strategy (NMS) supports the aims of the National Security 

Strategy (NSS) and implements the National Defense Strategy (NDS). It describes the 

Armed Forces’ plan to achieve military objectives in the near term and provides the 

vision for ensuring they remain decisive in the future. 

A. Strategic Guidance

1. The National Security Strategy

The President’s NSS affirms the Nation’s commitment to “help make the world not 

just safer but better.” This requires victory in the War on Terrorism (WOT) – a victory 

that is enduring and contributes to defending, preserving and extending the peace. 

The NSS directs an active strategy to counter transnational terrorist networks, rogue 

nations and aggressive states that possess or are working to gain weapons of mass 

destruction or effect (WMD/E). 1 It emphasizes activities to foster relationships 

among US allies, partners and friends. Such relationships support efforts to strike

globally at terrorist organizations and create conditions inhospitable to terrorism and

rogue regimes. The NSS highlights the need to retain and improve capabilities to

prevent attacks against the United States, work cooperatively with other nations and 

multinational organizations and transform America’s national security institutions. 

2. The National Defense Strategy 

 Objectives

Four Defense Objectives will 

guide DOD security activities: 

• Secure the United States 

from direct attack. 

• Secure strategic access and 

retain global freedom of

action. 

• Establish security 

conditions conducive to a 

favorable international 

order.

• Strengthen alliances and 

partnerships to contend 

with common challenges. 

The National Defense Strategy

The NDS supports the NSS by establishing a set 

of overarching defense objectives that guide the 

Department’s security activities and provide 

direction for the National Military Strategy. The 

NDS objectives serve as links between military 

activities and those of other government agencies in 

pursuit of national goals. The Department must 

take action to secure the United States from direct 

attack and counter, at a safe distance, those who

seek to harm the country. The Department must 

work to secure strategic access to key regions, lines 

of communication and the “global commons” of 

international waters, airspace, space and 

cyberspace. Defense activities must help establish 

security conditions favorable to the United States 

and its partners while working to expand the 

 1 The term WMD/E relates to a broad range of adversary capabilities that pose potentially 

devastating impacts. WMD/E includes chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and 

enhanced high explosive weapons as well as other, more asymmetrical “weapons”. They may 

rely more on disruptive impact than destructive kinetic effects. For example, cyber attacks on 

US commercial information systems or attacks against transportation networks may have a 

greater economic or psychological effect than a relatively small release of a lethal agent. 
2 

community of like-minded nations. The Department will also work to strengthen 

alliances and partnerships by helping other nations increase their ability to defend

themselves and protect common security interests. 

The NDS focuses Department activities on actions that assure allies and friends, 

dissuade potential adversaries, deter aggression and counter coercion and defeat

adversaries. These interconnected activities promote close cooperation with those 

committed to the principles of freedom, democracy and opportunity. The NDS 

provides four guidelines for implementing the strategy – create an active defense-indepth; conduct continuous transformation; adopt a capabilities-based approach; and 

manage risks. These guidelines will structure strategic planning and decisionmaking across all segments of the Department. 

B. The Role of the National Military Strategy

The NMS derives objectives, missions and capability requirements from an 

analysis of the NSS, the NDS and the security environment. The NSS and NDS 

provide a broad strategic context for employing military capabilities in concert with

other instruments of national power. The NMS provides focus for military activities 

by defining a set of interrelated military objectives and joint operating concepts from 

which the Service Chiefs and combatant commanders identify desired capabilities 

and against which the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff assesses risk. 

The NSS establishes homeland security as the first priority of the Nation. The 

Armed Forces’ role in homeland security is complex, combining actions overseas and 

at home to protect the United States. Our first line of defense is abroad and 

includes mutually supporting activities with US allies to counter threats close to their 

source. Closer to home, the Armed Forces use their capabilities to secure strategic 

air, land, sea and space approaches to the United States and its territory. When 

directed, the Armed Forces employ military capabilities at home to protect the nation, 

the domestic population and critical infrastructure from direct attack. Protecting the 

United States also requires integrating military capabilities with other government 

and law enforcement agencies to manage the consequences of an attack or natural 

disaster. 

The President and Secretary of Defense continue to highlight the increasingly 

dangerous nature and capabilities of adversaries. The threat posed by adversaries, 

especially those that possess WMD/E, is so great that the United States must adopt a 

global posture and take action to prevent conflict and surprise attack. Achieving 

this objective includes actions to shape the security environment in ways that 

enhance and expand multinational partnerships. Strong alliances and coalitions 

contribute to mutual security, tend to deter aggression, and help set conditions for 

success in combat if deterrence fails. Preventing conflict and surprise attack is not, 

however, solely defensive. The potentially catastrophic impact of an attack against 

the United States, its allies and its interests may necessitate actions in self-defense to 

preempt adversaries before they can attack. 

 
3 

Campaigns 

• Campaigns to “swiftly defeat” the efforts of adversaries are undertaken to achieve

a circumscribed set of objectives aimed at altering an adversary’s unacceptable behavior 

or policies, swiftly denying an adversary’s operational or strategic objectives, preventing 

attacks or uncontrolled conflict escalation and/or rapidly re-establishing security 

conditions favorable to the United States and its partners. 

• Campaigns to “win decisively” are undertaken to bring about fundamental, 

favorable change in a crisis region and create enduring results. They may entail lengthy 

periods of both major combat and stability operations; require regime change, defense,

or restoration; and entail significant investments of the nation’s resources and time. 

The National Defense Strategy 

Both the NSS and NDS envision a future environment that is safer and better than

today. When called upon, the military must be prepared to contribute to this goal 

through campaigns to prevail against adversaries. While the Armed Forces’ 

foremost task is to fight and win wars, the character of conflict has changed, 

necessitating capabilities to defeat a wide range of adversaries – from states to nonstate actors. The Armed Force must have the capability to swiftly defeat adversaries 

in overlapping campaigns while preserving the option to expand operations in one of 

those campaigns to achieve more comprehensive objectives. Prevailing against 

adversaries includes integrating all instruments of national power within a campaign 

to set the conditions for an enduring victory. 

Achieving the objectives of protect, prevent and prevail requires connected joint 

operating concepts (JOCs) that provide direction on how the joint force will operate 

and a foundation for defining military capabilities. The JOCs describe how the Joint 

Force conducts key missions and are supported by functional concepts of force 

application, protection, focused logistics, battlespace awareness and command 

and control. The JOCs serve to guide the continuous transformation of the Armed

Forces and provide a key linkage to the Armed Forces’ vision2 for future joint 

warfighting. This vision establishes the ultimate goal of the transformed force – the 

ability to achieve full spectrum dominance across the range of military operations. 

Achieving the objectives of the NMS in an uncertain and complex environment 

requires a capabilities-based approach to force design and planning that focuses less 

on a specific adversary or where a conflict might occur and more on how an adversary 

might fight. This capabilities-based approach uses operating concepts to drive 

planning and to guide the development of warfighting capabilities. It ensures the 

joint force can adapt and succeed across a broad range of scenarios. This approach 

must anticipate and rapidly adjust to changes in the security environment to ensure 

the United States improves its qualitative advantage over a more diverse set of 

adversaries – now and in the future. 

 2 The NMS integrates the document formerly known as “Joint Vision.” 
4 

The objectives of the NMS help define attributes and capabilities that the Joint 

Force requires and directly contribute to objectives of the NDS. These attributes and 

capabilities are important in determining the required size and design of the Armed 

Forces. Protecting the United States, preventing conflict and surprise attacks, and 

prevailing against adversaries will require forces appropriately sized and shaped in 

accordance with the NDS force-planning construct. The force must be sized to defend

the US homeland while continuing to operate in and from four forward regions to

deter aggression and coercion and set conditions for future operations. Even when 

committed to a limited number of lesser contingencies, the Armed Forces must retain 

the capability to swiftly defeat adversaries in two overlapping military campaigns. 

Additionally, when the President calls for an enduring result in one of the two, the 

force must have the capability and capacity to win decisively. 

Combatant commands must consider the effect of their current posture when

undertaking new operations. They will operate within a baseline security posture 

that includes the WOT and other ongoing operations from which they may be unable 

or unwilling to disengage. Planners must, therefore account for WOT campaign 

objectives when developing their force requirements. 

C. Key Aspects of the Security Environment 

The United States faces a number 

of dangerous and pervasive threats. 

Traditional, irregular, catastrophic, 

and disruptive challenges will require 

the Armed Forces to adjust quickly 

and decisively to change and 

anticipate emerging threats. Three key 

aspects of the security environment 

have unique implications for executing 

this military strategy and will drive the 

development of concepts and

capabilities that ensure success in 

future operations. 

1. A Wider Range of Adversaries 

Adversaries capable of threatening 

the United States, its allies, and its 

interests range from states to nonstate organizations to individuals. 

There are states with traditional military forces and advanced systems, including 

cruise and ballistic missiles, which could seek to control key regions of the world. A 

few of these states are ‘rogues’ that violate treaties, secretly pursue and proliferate 

WMD/E, reject peaceful resolution of disputes and display callous disregard for their 

citizens. Some of these states sponsor terrorists, providing them financial support, 

sanctuary and access to dangerous capabilities. There are non-state actors, 

including terrorist networks, international criminal organizations and illegal armed 

 Mature and Emerging Challenges 

Traditional challenges are posed by states 

employing recognized military capabilities and

forces in well-understood forms of military 

competition and conflict. 

Irregular challenges come from those

employing “unconventional” methods to 

counter the traditional advantages of stronger

opponents. 

Catastrophic challenges involve the

acquisition, possession, and use of WMD or 

methods producing WMD-like effects. 

Disruptive challenges may come from 

adversaries who develop and use

breakthrough technologies to negate current 

U.S. advantages in key operational domains. 

The National Defense Strategy
5 

groups that menace stability and security. Even some individuals may have the 

means and will to disrupt international order. Some of these adversaries are 

politically unconstrained and, particularly in the case of non-state actors, may be less

susceptible to traditional means of deterrence. Adversaries increasingly seek 

asymmetric capabilities and will use them in innovative ways. They will avoid US 

strengths like precision strike and seek to counter US power projection capabilities by 

creating anti-access environments. Such adversaries will target civilian populations, 

economic centers and symbolic locations as a way to attack US political will and 

resolve. 

This volatile mix of challenges requires new methods of deterrence and operational 

approaches to defeat these threats should deterrence fail. Intelligence systems must 

allow commanders to understand enemy intent, predict threat actions, and detect 

adversary movements, providing them the time necessary to take preventive

measures. Long before conflict occurs these intelligence systems must help provide a 

more thorough understanding of adversaries’ motivations, goals and organizations to

determine effective deterrent courses of action. There may, however, be adversaries 

who remain undeterred. Should they acquire WMD/E or dangerous asymmetric 

capabilities, or demonstrate the intent to mount a surprise attack, the United States 

must be prepared to prevent them from striking. 

2. A More Complex and Distributed Battlespace 

Adversaries threaten the United States throughout a complex battlespace, 

extending from critical regions overseas to the homeland and spanning the global 

commons of international airspace, waters, space and cyberspace. There exists an 

“arc of instability” stretching from the Western Hemisphere, through Africa and the 

Middle East and extending to Asia. There are areas in this arc that serve as breeding 

grounds for threats to our interests. Within these areas rogue states provide 

sanctuary to terrorists, protecting them from surveillance and attack. Other

adversaries take advantage of ungoverned space and under-governed territories from 

which they prepare plans, train forces and launch attacks. These ungoverned areas 

often coincide with locations of illicit activities; such coincidence creates 

opportunities for hostile coalitions of criminal elements and ideological extremists. 

 The United States will conduct operations in widely diverse locations – from 

densely populated urban areas located in littoral regions to remote, inhospitable and

austere locations. Military operations in this complex environment may be 

dramatically different than the high intensity combat missions for which US forces 

routinely train. While US Armed Forces’ will continue to emphasize precision, speed, 

lethality and distributed operations, commanders must expect and plan for the 

possibility that their operations will produce unintended 2nd- and 3rd-order effects. 

For example, US forces can precisely locate, track, and destroy discrete targets to 

reduce collateral damage and conclude operations as quickly as possible. Operations

that rely on precision may result in large elements of an adversary’s military 

remaining intact and segments of the population unaffected. Commanders must 

prepare to operate in regions where pockets of resistance remain and there exists the 

potential for continued combat operations amidst a large number of non-combatants. 
6 

This battlespace places unique demands on military organizations and 

interagency partners, requiring more detailed coordination and synchronization of

activities both overseas and at home. Our experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq 

highlight the need for a comprehensive strategy to achieve longer-term national goals 

and objectives. The United States must adopt an “active defense-in-depth” that 

merges joint force, interagency, international non-governmental organizations, and 

multinational capabilities in a synergistic manner. This defense does not rely solely 

on passive measures. The United States must enhance security at home while 

actively patrolling strategic approaches and extending defensive capabilities well 

beyond US borders. An effective defense-in-depth must also include the capability to 

strike swiftly at any target around the globe using forces at home as well as forwardbased, forward-deployed and rotational forces. 

3. Technology Diffusion and Access 

Global proliferation of a wide range of technology and weaponry will affect the 

character of future conflict. Dual-use civilian technologies, especially information 

technologies, high-resolution imagery and global positioning systems are widely 

available. These relatively low cost, commercially available technologies will improve 

the disruptive and destructive capabilities of a wide range of state and non-state 

actors. Advances in automation and information processing will allow some 

adversaries to locate and attack targets both overseas and in the United States. 

Software tools for network-attack, intrusion and disruption are globally available over 

the Internet, providing almost any interested adversary a basic computer network 

exploitation or attack capability. Access to advanced weapons systems and 

innovative delivery systems could fundamentally change warfighting and dramatically 

increase an adversary’s ability to threaten the United States. 

Technology diffusion and access to advanced weapons and delivery systems have 

significant implications for military capabilities. The United States must have the 

ability to deny adversaries such disruptive technologies and weapons. However, the 

Armed Forces cannot focus solely on these threats and assume there are not other 

challenges on the horizon. Ensuring current readiness while continuing to transform 

and maintaining unchallenged military superiority will require investment. These are 

not mutually exclusive goals. 

The Armed Forces must remain ready to fight even as they transform and 

transform even as they fight. Adopting an “in-stride” approach to transformation – 

through rapid prototyping, field experimentation, organizational redesign and concept

development – will ensure US military superiority remains unmatched. Such an 

approach requires effective balancing of resources to recapitalize critical capabilities 

and modernize some elements of the force to maintain readiness while investing in 

programs that extend US military advantages into the future. 
7 

D. Strategic Principles 

Applying Strategic Principles 

Strategic agility, integration and decisiveness allow the Armed Forces to move at 

great speed and distance to undertake combat operations quickly in sometimes 

overlapping conflicts. They guide the development of tailored, joint operations 

concepts that define how the Armed Forces employ capabilities across the range of

military operations. 

Commanders must develop plans that ensure they retain the agility to contend 

with uncertainty, apply effects decisively and integrate actions with other government 

agencies and multinational partners. Combatant commanders should consider these 

principles when planning and conducting operations. These principles guide the 

development of joint operations concepts and the capabilities the joint force requires.

1. Agility 

It is imperative that the Armed Forces retain the ability to contend with the 

principal characteristic of the security environment – uncertainty. Agility is the 

ability to rapidly deploy, employ, sustain and redeploy capabilities in geographically 

separated and environmentally diverse regions. As commanders conduct operations 

they must consider the effects of surprise and the possibility that their forces may 

have to transition from one type or phase of an operation to another quickly, or

conduct phases simultaneously, regardless of location. Agility, as a planning 

principle, allows commanders to conduct simultaneous missions while retaining the 

ability to respond to emerging crises. Agility is key to quickly seizing the initiative 

across the range of military operations and ensuring the Armed Forces can act swiftly 

and decisively to protect US interests. 

2. Decisiveness 

Decisiveness allows combatant commanders to overwhelm adversaries, control 

situations and achieve definitive outcomes. Decisiveness requires tailored packages 

of joint capabilities designed to achieve specific effects and accomplish objectives. 

Achieving decisiveness may not require large force deployments but rather employing 

capabilities in innovative ways. Transforming the Armed Forces’ capacity to mass 

effects while retaining the ability to mass forces, if needed, is key to achieving

decisiveness. By focusing on decisive outcomes, combatant commanders can more 

precisely define the effects they must generate and determine the capabilities they 

require. 

3. Integration

Commanders must ensure military activities are integrated effectively with the 

application of other instruments of national and international power to provide focus 

and unity of effort. Integration focuses on fusing and synchronizing military 

operations among the Services, other government agencies, the commercial sector, 
8 

 

non-governmental organizations and those of partners abroad. Integration does not 

preclude the unilateral use of force, but rather seeks to ensure unity of effort and 

maximize the contribution of partners. Enabling multinational partners through 

security cooperation and other engagement activities enhances the ability of the 

Armed Forces to not only prevent conflict and deter aggression but also supports 

combatant commanders’ plans to quickly undertake operations over great distances 

and in sometimes overlapping conflicts. 

Agility, decisiveness, and integration support simultaneous operations, the 

application of overmatching power3 and the fusion of US military power with other 

instruments of power. These principles stress speed, allowing US commanders to 

exploit an enemy’s vulnerabilities, rapidly seize the initiative and achieve endstates. 

They support the concept of surging capabilities from widely dispersed locations to 

mass effects against an adversary’s centers of gravity to achieve objectives. Our 

strategic principles guide the application of military power to protect, prevent and 

prevail in ways that contribute to longer-term national goals and objectives. 

3 Overmatching power is the precise application of combat power to foreclose enemy options 

and rapidly seize the initiative to achieve conclusive victories. 
9 

II. National Military Objectives 

The NDS establishes four strategic objectives: secure the United States from direct 

attack; secure strategic access and maintain global freedom of action; establish 

security conditions conducive to a favorable international order; and strengthen 

alliances and partnerships to contend with common challenges. The NMS establishes 

three supporting military objectives: to protect the United States against external 

attacks and aggression; prevent conflict and surprise attack; and prevail against

adversaries. These are the ends of the strategy and help to assure allies and friends, 

dissuade adversaries and deter aggression and coercion while ensuring the Armed 

Forces remain ready to defeat adversaries should deterrence and dissuasion fail. 

They serve as benchmarks to assess levels of risk and help to define the types and 

amounts of military capabilities required. 

Joint operating concepts (JOCs), currently under development, support each 

objective and link specific tasks to programmatic actions as well as guide the 

development of plans and the execution of operations. The current set of JOCs – 

Homeland Security, Stability Operations, Strategic Deterrence and Major 

Combat Operations – represent related actions that support all of the NMS

objectives. While some of the JOCs may focus on specific elements of the strategy, 

success requires integrated action and unity of effort across each of the concepts. 

Although military objectives have enduring elements, the ways to achieve those goals 

must evolve through experimentation, operational experience, and the development of 

transformational capabilities. 

Several considerations will guide combatant commanders in their planning. 

First, NMS objectives are interrelated and require the application of capabilities 

across the tactical, operational and strategic spectrum. Each of the objectives will 

generally involve collaborative efforts with other agencies and departments in the US 

government. Second, commanders will need to develop plans to achieve objectives 

simultaneously. The ability to conduct simultaneous operations ensures the United 

States retains its initiative even during multiple operations. Finally, commanders 

cannot rely solely on reactive measures and a robust defensive posture to accomplish 

objectives. This strategy requires a posture of anticipatory self-defense, which 

reflects the need for prepared and proportional responses to imminent aggression. 

When directed, commanders will preempt in self-defense those adversaries that pose 

an unmistakable threat of grave harm and which are not otherwise deterrable. 

A. Protect the United States 

Today, our first priority is to protect the United States. Joint forces help to 

secure the United States from direct attack through military activities overseas, 

planning and execution of homeland defense and support to civil authorities. Our 

experience in the WOT reinforces the fact that protecting the Nation and its global 

interests requires more than passive defensive measures. The threats posed by 

terrorist groups and rogue states, especially those that gain access to WMD/E, 

mandate an active defense-in-depth. Achieving this objective requires actions to 
10 

counter threats overseas and close to their source; to secure our air, sea, space and 

land territorial approaches; and at home to defend against direct attacks. When 

directed, the Armed Forces provide military support to civil authorities, including 

capabilities to manage the consequences of an attack. 

Countering Threats Close to their Source. Our primary line of defense remains 

well forward. Forces operating in key regions are essential to the defense of the 

United States and to the protection of allies and US interests. Our theater security 

activities with multinational partners provide access to information and intelligence 

critical to anticipating and understanding new threats. This access supports the 

ability of the United States to project power against threats and support the 

establishment of an environment that reduces the conditions that foster extremist 

ideologies. Our forces, including those rotationally deployed and those stationed 

forward, will work cooperatively with other nations to encourage regional partners to 

eliminate threats and patrol ungoverned space. More directly, deployed military units 

will work closely with international partners and other US government agencies to 

take the battle to the enemy – engaging terrorist forces, terrorist collaborators and 

those governments harboring terrorists. 

Protecting Strategic Approaches. The JOC for “Homeland Security” includes 

tasks to protect the United States from direct attack while securing the air, sea, land 

and space approaches to the United States. We will join the efforts of multinational 

partners and other US government agencies to form an integrated defense of the air,

land, sea and space approaches in and around US sovereign territory. Protecting 

these strategic approaches requires persistent surveillance that allows the United 

States to identify, continuously track and interdict potential threats. This integrated

defense is essential to securing strategic access and retaining US freedom of action. 

Defensive Actions at Home. While we will attempt to counter threats close to 

their source and interdict them along the strategic approaches, we must retain the 

ability to defend the United States from an attack that penetrates our forward 

defenses. At home the Armed Forces must defend the United States against air and 

missile attacks, terrorism and other direct attacks. As necessary, the Armed Forces 

will protect critical infrastructure that supports our ability to project military power. 

When directed, the Armed Forces will temporarily employ military capabilities to 

support law enforcement agencies during special events. During emergencies the 

Armed Forces may provide military support to civil authorities in mitigating the 

consequences of an attack or other catastrophic event when civilian responders are 

overwhelmed. Military responses under these conditions require a streamlined chainof-command that integrates the unique capabilities of active and reserve military 

components and civilian responders. Effective defense in the face of adaptive

adversaries will also require the exploitation of future technologies to improve 

capabilities to rapidly detect, assess and interdict WMD/E and emerging threats. 

Creating a Global Anti-Terrorism Environment. In addition to defending the 

US homeland and supporting civil authorities, our strategy will diminish the 

conditions that permit terrorism to flourish. To defeat terrorists we will support 

national and partner nation efforts to deny state sponsorship, support, and sanctuary 
11 

to terrorist organizations. We will work to deny terrorists safe haven in failed states 

and ungoverned regions. Working with other nations’ militaries and other 

governmental agencies, the Armed Forces help to establish favorable security 

conditions and increase the capabilities of partners. The relationships developed in 

these interactions contribute to a global antiterrorism environment that further 

reduces threats to the United States, its allies and its interests. For example, 

intelligence partnerships with other nations can take advantage of foreign expertise 

and areas of focus and provide access to previously denied areas. These relationships 

are essential mission components to protecting the United States, contributing to 

deterrence and conflict prevention, as well as preventing surprise attacks. 

B. Prevent Conflict and Surprise Attacks 

The United States must prevent conflict and surprise attacks through actions that 

deter aggression and coercion while retaining the capability to act promptly in 

defending the nation. Preventing conflict and deterring aggression rely in large part 

on an integrated overseas presence. Overseas, US forces permanently based in 

strategically important areas, rotationally deployed forward in support of regional 

objectives, and temporarily deployed during contingencies convey a credible message 

that the United States remains committed to preventing conflict. These forces also

clearly demonstrate that the United States will react forcefully should an adversary 

threaten the United States, its interests, allies and partners. The United States must 

remain vigilant in identifying conditions that can lead to conflict in anticipating 

adversary actions and in reacting more swiftly than in the past. The Joint Force will 

deploy forward with a purpose – on the ground, in the air, in space and at sea – and

work with other nations to promote security and to deter aggression. Preventing 

conflict and surprise attacks requires that the Armed Forces take action to ensure 

strategic access, establish favorable security conditions and work to increase the 

capabilities of partners to protect common security interests. 

Forward Posture and Presence. Increasing the capabilities of partners and their 

willingness to cooperate in operations that ensure regional security requires an 

integrated, global view of our long-term strategy and enhancements to our overseas 

military posture. Combatant commanders, employing a mix of forward stationed, 

rotational and temporarily deployed capabilities tailored to perform specific missions, 

improve our ability to act within and across borders, strengthen the role of partners 

and expand joint and multinational capabilities. Posture and presence

enhancements also serve to assure our friends; improve the ability to prosecute the 

WOT; deter, dissuade and defeat other threats; and support transformation. These 

changes, developed in anticipation of future threats, help to ensure strategic access 

to key regions and lines of communications critical to US security and sustaining 

operations throughout the battlespace. Within the process of adjusting our overseas 

presence, combatant commanders must develop and recommend posture 

adjustments that enable expeditionary, joint, and multinational forces to act promptly 

and globally while establishing favorable security conditions. The value and utility of 

having forces forward goes beyond winning on the battlefield. Employing forces in 

instances short of war demonstrates the United States’ willingness to lead and 

encourages others to help defend, preserve and extend the peace. 
12 

Promote Security. The visible and purposeful presence of US military 

capabilities is an integral part of an active global strategy to ensure security and 

stability. Military forces engage in security cooperation (SC) activities to establish 

important military interactions, building trust and confidence between the United 

States and its multinational partners. These relatively small investments often 

produce results that far exceed their cost. 

 SC complements other national-level efforts to prevent conflict and promote 

mutual security interests. These activities encourage nations to develop, modernize 

and transform their own capabilities, thereby increasing the capabilities of partners 

and helping them to help themselves. SC helps resolve doctrinal employment 

differences among military counterparts, enhances important intelligence and 

communication linkages and facilitates rapid crisis response. Active SC contributes 

to stability in key areas of the world while dissuading potential adversaries from 

adopting courses of action that threaten stability and security. In this way, we 

facilitate the integration of military operations with allies, contribute to regional 

stability, reduce underlying conditions that foment extremism and set the conditions 

for future success. 

Deterring Aggression. Deterrence rests on an adversary understanding that the 

United States has an unquestioned ability to deny strategic objectives and to impose 

severe consequences in response to hostile or potentially hostile actions. Deterring 

aggression and coercion must be anticipatory in nature to prevent the catastrophic 

impact of attacks using biological, chemical or nuclear weapons on civilian 

population centers in the United States or in partner nations. The Armed Forces 

have the capability to exercise flexible deterrent options (FDOs) with appropriate 

combat power to defuse a crisis or force an adversary to reevaluate its courses of 

action. Combatant commanders build upon the capabilities of early arriving FDOs to

support the swift defeat of an adversary when necessary. Moreover, they employ 

capabilities to establish favorable security conditions in which other, non-military 

FDOs can succeed. 

Effective deterrence requires a strategic communication plan that emphasizes the 

willingness of the United States to employ force in defense of its interests. Combatant 

commander participation is essential in developing a strategic communication plan 

that conveys US intent and objectives, and ensures the success of the plan by 

countering adversary disinformation and misinformation. Such strategic 

communication can help avoid conflict or deescalate tensions among adversaries. 

The United States requires a broad set of options to discourage aggression and 

coercion. Nuclear capabilities continue to play an important role in deterrence by 

providing military options to deter a range of threats, including the use of WMD/E 

and large-scale conventional forces. Additionally, the extension of a credible nuclear 

deterrent to allies has been an important nonproliferation tool that has removed

incentives for allies to develop and deploy nuclear forces. Deterring aggression by a 

wider range of adversaries requires transforming existing US strategic nuclear forces 

into a new triad composed of a diverse portfolio of capabilities. This new model for 
13 

strategic deterrence includes non-nuclear and nuclear strike forces, active and 

passive defenses, as well as infrastructure to build and maintain the force. 

Improvements and enhancements to non-nuclear strike capabilities, information 

operations, command and control, intelligence and space forces will contribute to a 

more robust and effective deterrent capability. Future advances in targeting and 

precision will provide the capabilities necessary to defeat a wider range of targets 

while reducing collateral damage. 

Preventing Surprise Attacks. Military forces can no longer focus solely on 

responding to aggression. The potentially horrific consequences of an attack against 

the United States demand action to secure the Nation from direct attack by

eliminating certain threats before they can strike. Deterring threats and preventing 

surprise attacks will place increasing demands on intelligence assets, the agility and 

decisiveness of the force and the ability to work time-critical issues in the interagency 

setting. Preventative missions require shared, “actionable” intelligence, and rules of 

engagement that allow commanders to make timely decisions. This decision making 

process stresses collaboration, speed and responsiveness – key ingredients required

when exploiting time-sensitive opportunities as they arise, especially against mobile, 

time critical targets. These missions require exacting analysis and synthesis of 

intelligence gathered by a combination of capabilities, including human and technical 

collectors. These operations will generally involve coordinated efforts with other 

agencies and departments in the US government, placing a premium on information 

sharing, intelligence fusion and collaborative planning. 

JOCs for stability operations and strategic deterrence are essential to how 

combatant commanders employ forces before, during and after conflict. Preventing 

conflict requires the capability to perform stability operations to maintain or reestablish order, promote peace and security or improve existing conditions. This will 

involve close coordination with other elements of the US government and 

multinational partners. Such actions reduce the underlying conditions that foster 

terrorism and the extremist ideologies that support terrorism. Stability operations 

create favorable security conditions that allow other instruments of national and 

international power to succeed. Preventing conflict and surprise attacks is a key 

element to protecting the United States from direct attack and helps to set the 

conditions in which the Armed Forces can prevail against adversaries. 

C. Prevail Against Adversaries 

When necessary, the Armed Forces will defeat adversaries. Developments in the 

security environment necessitate a Joint Force that can achieve tactical and 

operational success and prevail in a manner that establishes favorable security 

conditions and ensures enduring victories. Terrorist attacks demonstrate that 

conflict is not limited to geographic borders and that defeating root causes of 

terrorism requires a total national effort. The United States will constantly strive to 

enlist the support of the international community and increase the capabilities of 

partners to contend with common challenges, but will not hesitate to act alone, if 

necessary. 
14 

Swiftly Defeat Adversaries. Some operation plans will focus on achieving a 

limited set of objectives. Commanders’ plans to swiftly defeat adversaries will include 

options to: alter the unacceptable behavior or policies of states; rapidly seize the 

initiative or prevent conflict escalation; deny an adversary sanctuary, defeat his 

offensive capabilities or objectives; and provide support to post-conflict stability. In

each case, the Joint Force must combine speed, agility and superior warfighting 

ability to generate decisive effects. Moving forces into multiple geographic locations 

will require assured strategic access as well as strategic and tactical lift systems 

robust enough to conduct and sustain multiple, simultaneous operations. Swiftly 

defeating adversaries in overlapping operations will require the ability to quickly 

reconstitute, reconfigure and redeploy forces to conduct another campaign. 

Win Decisively. Where necessary, commanders’ plans will include options to 

rapidly transition to a campaign to win decisively and achieve enduring results. The 

capabilities required for major combat operations must be applicable to the full 

spectrum of threats ranging from state to non-state adversaries employing traditional 

and/or asymmetric capabilities. A campaign to win decisively will include actions to: 

destroy an adversary’s military capabilities through the integrated application of air, 

ground, maritime, space and information capabilities; and potentially remove 

adversary regimes when directed. Such campaigns require capabilities for 

conventional warfighting, unconventional warfare, homeland security, stability and 

post-conflict operations, countering terrorism and security cooperation activities. 

Stability Operations. Winning decisively will require synchronizing and 

integrating major combat operations, stability operations and significant post-conflict 

interagency operations to establish conditions of stability and security favorable to 

the United States. The Joint Force must be able to transition from major combat 

operations to stability operations and to conduct those operations simultaneously. At 

the operational level, military post-conflict operations will integrate conflict 

termination objectives with diplomatic, economic, financial, intelligence, law

enforcement and information efforts. Joint forces will, where appropriate, 

synchronize and coordinate their operations and activities with international partners 

and non-governmental organizations. These missions render other instruments of 

national power more effective and set the conditions for long-term regional stability 

and sustainable development.

The JOCs for major combat operations and stability operations are 

complementary and must be fully integrated and synchronized in campaign planning. 

These concepts allow the Joint Force to conduct sequential, parallel or simultaneous 

operations throughout the physical and information domains of the global 

battlespace. The goal of these JOCs is to sustain increased operating tempo, place 

continuous pressure on the adversary and synchronize military action with the 

application of other instruments of national power. 
15 

Joint Force Attributes 

(Characteristics Describing the Joint Force)

• Fully Integrated—functions and capabilities focused toward a unified purpose.

• Expeditionary—rapidly deployable, employable and sustainable throughout the global 

battlespace. 

• Networked—linked and synchronized in time and purpose.

• Decentralized—integrated capabilities operating in a joint manner at lower echelons. 

• Adaptable—prepared to quickly respond with the appropriate capabilities mix. 

• Decision superiority—better-informed decisions implemented faster than an adversary 

can react. 

• Lethality—destroy an adversary and/or his systems in all conditions. 

Joint Operations Concepts

III. A Joint Force for Mission Success 

The objectives of protect, prevent and prevail provide the foundation for defining 

military capabilities and creating a joint force that can contend effectively with 

uncertainty. They support a capabilities-based approach that focuses on how

adversaries will fight in the future rather than on which specific adversaries we may 

fight. The Armed Forces must have the ability to defeat opponents that possess 

WMD/E, combine both low-tech and high-tech capabilities and merge traditional and 

asymmetric capabilities in an attempt to overcome US military advantages. 

Defeating adaptive adversaries requires flexible, modular and deployable joint 

forces with the ability to combine the strengths of individual Services, combatant 

commands, other government agencies and multinational partners. Joint forces will 

require new levels of interoperability and systems that are “born joint,” i.e., 

conceptualized and designed with joint architectures and acquisition strategies. This

level of interoperability ensures that technical, doctrinal and cultural barriers do not 

limit the ability of joint commanders to achieve objectives. The goal is to design joint 

force capabilities that increase the range of options – from kinetic to non-kinetic – 

available to the President and Secretary of Defense. 

A. Desired Attributes

The challenge over the next decade will be to develop and enhance joint 

capabilities in a time of global war, finite resources and multiple commitments. While 

the United States enjoys an overwhelming qualitative advantage today, sustaining 

and increasing this advantage will require transformation - a transformation achieved 

by combining technology, intellect and cultural changes across the joint community. 

The Armed Forces must be able to evaluate challenges, leverage innovation and 

technology and act decisively in pursuit of national goals. 

Joint forces operating in this complex battlespace must be fully integrated and

adaptable to anticipate and counter the most dangerous threats. They will also 
16 

require expeditionary capabilities with highly mobile forces skilled in flexible, adaptive 

planning and decentralized execution even when operating from widely dispersed 

locations. Operational planning and execution requires decision superiority and the 

prerequisite authority to take actions and exploit fleeting opportunities. The joint 

force will use superior intelligence and the power of information technologies to 

increase decision superiority, precision and lethality of the force. A networked force 

capable of decision superiority can collect, analyze and rapidly disseminate 

intelligence and other relevant information from the national to tactical levels, then 

use that information to decide and act faster than opponents. 

A joint force with these attributes requires more than technological solutions. It

relies on disciplined, skilled, dedicated and professional service men and women. It 

also requires informed and empowered joint leaders who combine superior technical 

skills, operational experience, intellectual understanding and cultural expertise to 

employ capabilities and perform critical joint functions. A joint force, possessing the 

attributes described and comprised of highly motivated professionals, will produce 

creative solutions to the most difficult problems. 

B. Functions and Capabilities 

Inherent in each military objective is a series of functions that the Joint Force 

must perform. Commanders derive their tasks and define required capabilities 

through an analysis of these functions and the concepts that describe how the Armed 

Forces will perform them. Capabilities that allow the Joint Force to perform these 

functions result from combinations of joint doctrine, organization, training programs, 

materiel solutions, leadership, personnel and facilities. 

1. Applying Force 

The application of military force to achieve the objectives of the NMS is the 

primary task of the Armed Forces. It requires the integrated use of maneuver and 

engagement to create precisely defined effects. Force application includes force 

movement to gain positional and temporal advantage to rapidly seize the initiative 

and complicate an adversary’s defensive plans. Force application integrates air, land, 

sea, special operations, information and space capabilities. It also requires

unprecedented levels of persistence that allow commanders, even in a high-threat 

environment, to assess results against mission objectives, adjust capabilities 

accordingly and reengage as required. 

Applying force requires power projection assets to move capabilities rapidly, 

employ them precisely and sustain them even when adversaries employ anti-access 

and counter power projection strategies. Such power projection requires assured

access to theaters of operation and enhanced expeditionary capabilities that support 

operational maneuver from strategic distances. Strong regional alliances and 

coalitions enhance expeditionary capabilities by providing physical access to host 

nation infrastructure and other support. They also provide access to regional 

intelligence that enables the precise application of military capabilities and allows the 

United States to focus combat power more effectively at the critical time and place. 
17 

Achieving shared situational awareness with allies and partners will require 

compatible information systems and security processes that protect sensitive

information without degrading the ability of multinational partners to operate 

effectively with US elements. Such information and intelligence sharing helps builds 

trust and confidence essential to strong international partnerships. 

Force application focuses more on generating the right effects to achieve objectives 

than on generating overwhelming numbers of forces. The application of force against 

widely dispersed adversaries, including transnational terrorist organizations, will 

require improved intelligence collection and analysis systems. Effective global strike 

to damage, neutralize or destroy any objective results from a combination of precision 

and maneuver and the integration of new technologies, doctrine and organizations. 

Defeating the most dangerous threats will require persistence in force application that 

allows strikes against time-sensitive and time-critical targets. Ensuring capabilities 

are positioned and ready to conduct strikes against these targets requires the ability 

to sustain operations over time and across significant distances. 

2. Deploying and Sustaining Military Capabilities

Force application in multiple overlapping operations will challenge sustainment 

capabilities. Sustaining such operations requires the ability to support forces 

operating in and from austere or unimproved forward locations. Additionally, the 

increasing importance of mobility will necessitate more expeditionary logistics 

capabilities. Focused logistics provides the right personnel, equipment and supplies 

in the right quantities and at the right place and time. Such focused logistics 

capabilities will place a premium on networking to create a seamless end-to-end 

logistics system that synchronizes all aspects of the deployment and distribution 

processes. 

 

Overlapping major combat operations place major demands on strategic mobility. 

Achieving objectives in such operations requires robust sealift, airlift, aerial refueling 

and pre-positioned assets. Strategic mobility that supports these operations also 

requires supporting equipment to store, move and distribute materiel and an 

information infrastructure to provide real-time visibility of the entire logistics chain. 

Sustainment includes force generation and management activities that ensure the 

long-term viability of the force. Force generation includes recruiting, training, 

educating and retaining highly qualified people in the Active and Reserve Components 

as well as within the DOD civilian and contracted workforce. These personnel must 

have the right skill sets to apply joint doctrine within their organizations. Force 

generation requirements must include planning, programming, acquisition,

maintenance, repair and recapitalization of equipment and infrastructure to maintain 

readiness. 

Force management contributes to improving readiness levels even during highintensity operations. It considers the effects of modernization and transformation on 

unit availability, readiness and integration. Force management policies, including 

force rotation policies that reduce stress on the joint force, evolve from continuous 
18 

assessments of operational requirements. They also help to determine appropriate 

locations, capabilities and associated infrastructure required to support multiple, 

simultaneous operations. Force management policies help define the right mix of 

Active and Reserve Component forces and ensure a proper balance of capabilities. 

3. Securing Battlespace 

The Armed Forces must have the ability to operate across the air, land, sea, space 

and cyberspace domains of the battlespace. Armed Forces must employ military 

capabilities to ensure access to these domains to protect the Nation, forces in the field 

and US global interests. The non-linear nature of the current security environment 

requires multi-layered active and passive measures to counter numerous diverse 

conventional and asymmetric threats. These include conventional weapons, ballistic 

and cruise missiles and WMD/E. They also include threats in cyberspace aimed at 

networks and data critical to US information-enabled systems. Such threats require 

a comprehensive concept of deterrence encompassing traditional adversaries, 

terrorist networks and rogue states able to employ any range of capabilities. 

The Armed Forces require new capabilities to detect and interdict a wide range of 

threats close to their source and throughout the strategic approaches. The 

availability of intelligence and dual use technology to a wider variety of potential 

adversaries poses an increasing danger, providing them the ability to interrupt or 

exploit US information systems. Adversaries may find new and innovative ways to

combine capabilities into effective weapons and enhance their ability to threaten the 

United States. Military forces must have both the means and established rules of 

engagement to take action ranging from active counter proliferation to military action 

that supports non-proliferation policies. Securing battlespace will require cooperative 

activities with other government agencies and multinational partners to deny the use 

of these capabilities and to counter asymmetric attacks. This requires doctrine, tools 

and training to more effectively synchronize military capabilities with non-DOD 

assets. 

Consequence management capabilities are essential in the aftermath of an attack, 

especially an attack with WMD/E. Such capabilities limit damage and casualties and 

include actions to counter the effects of WMD/E or the intentional or unintentional 

release of toxic chemicals following military operations. Consequence management 

helps restore affected areas through actions that contain, neutralize and 

decontaminate weapon agents. When directed, the Joint Force extends consequence 

management assistance to allies and other security partners. 

Military operations require information assurance that guarantees access to

information systems and their products and the ability to deny adversaries access to 

the same. Securing the battlespace includes actions to safeguard information and 

command and control systems that support the precise application of force and 

sustainment activities that ensure persistence across the full range of military 

operations. Securing battlespace ensures the ability of the Armed Forces to collect, 

process, analyze and disseminate all-source intelligence and other relevant 

information that contribute to decision superiority. 
19 

4. Achieving Decision Superiority 

Decision superiority – the process of making decisions better and faster than an 

adversary – is essential to executing a strategy based on speed and flexibility. 

Decision superiority requires new ways of thinking about acquiring, integrating, using 

and sharing information. It necessitates new ideas for developing architectures for 

command, control, communications and computers (C4) as well as the intelligence, 

surveillance and reconnaissance assets that provide knowledge of adversaries. 

Decision superiority requires precise information of enemy and friendly dispositions, 

capabilities, and activities, as well as other data relevant to successful campaigns. 

Battlespace awareness, combined with responsive command and control systems, 

supports dynamic decision-making and turns information superiority into a 

competitive advantage adversaries cannot match. 

Persistent surveillance, ISR management, collaborative analysis and on-demand 

dissemination facilitate battlespace awareness. Developing the intelligence products 

to support this level of awareness requires collection systems and assured access to 

air, land, sea and space-based sensors. Human collectors are a critical element in 

the collection system; they provide the ability to discern the intention of adversaries 

and produce actionable intelligence for plans and orders. Intelligence analysts 

operating well forward must have the ability to reach back to comprehensive, 

integrated databases and to horizontally integrate information and intelligence. The 

entire system must be supported by effective counterintelligence capabilities that 

deny an adversary access to critical information. 

Battlespace awareness requires the ability to share relevant information with 

other government agencies and allies. Such information sharing requires multi-level 

security capabilities that allow multinational partners and other government agencies 

to access and use relevant information while reducing the probability of compromise. 

Seamless multi-level security access will empower distributed command and control 

and provide increased transparency in multinational operations. Decisions to apply 

force in multiple, widely dispersed locations require highly flexible and adaptive joint 

command and control processes. Commanders must communicate decisions to 

subordinates, rapidly develop alternative courses of action, generate required effects, 

assess results and conduct appropriate follow-on operations. 

The Joint Force requires the ability to conduct information operations, including 

electronic warfare, computer network operations, military deception, psychological 

operations and operations security that enable information superiority. Information 

operations must be adaptive – tailorable to specific audiences and requirements and 

flexible enough to accommodate operational adjustments. Should deterrence fail, 

information operations can disrupt an enemy’s network and communicationsdependent weapons, infrastructure and command and control and battlespace 

management functions. Information operations, both offensive and defensive, are key 

to ensuring US freedom of action across the battlespace. 
20 

A decision superior joint force must employ decision-making processes that allow 

commanders to attack time-sensitive and time-critical targets. Dynamic decisionmaking brings together organizations, planning processes, technical systems and 

commensurate authorities that support informed decisions. Such decisions require 

networked command and control capabilities and a tailored common operating 

picture of the battlespace. Networking must also provide increased transparency in 

multinational operations and support the integration of other government agencies 

and multinational partners into joint operations. Force application, sustainment and 

actions to secure battlespace will rely on these capabilities. 
21 

IV. Force Design and Size 

A. Implications for Force Design and Size 

The NDS directs a force sized to defend the homeland, deter forward in and from

four regions, and conduct two, overlapping “swift defeat” campaigns. Even when 

committed to a limited number of lesser contingencies, the force must be able to “win 

decisively” in one of the two campaigns. This “1-4-2-1” force-sizing construct places a 

premium on increasingly innovative and efficient methods to achieve objectives. The 

construct establishes mission parameters for the most demanding set of potential 

scenarios and encompasses the full range of military operations. It does not 

represent a specific set of scenarios nor reflect temporary conditions. As a result, 

planners and programmers should take into account the following implications of the 

construct. 

Baseline Security Posture. Combatant commanders will perform their missions 

within a baseline security posture that includes the WOT, ongoing operations and 

other day-to-day activities to which US forces remain committed and from which they 

are unlikely to disengage entirely. The extremely demanding circumstances

associated with the ongoing WOT are likely to endure for the foreseeable future. 

Because post-conflict and WOT operations are likely of long duration and will vary in 

intensity, planners must account for the capabilities required to achieve campaign 

objectives. Commanders must develop options to achieve success given this baseline 

security posture and identify capability trade-offs necessary to manage increased 

risks. 

Adequacy and Presence. Determining the size of the force requires assessing the 

adequacy of the force to meet current and future challenges and the optimization of

current end strength and force/capabilities mix. Sizing the force must consider the 

allocation, location, distribution and support of overseas forces. Sizing must account 

for sustaining permanently stationed, rotationally and temporarily deployed forward

forces; overseas infrastructure; and resources, including the strategic lift and security 

necessary to project and sustain these capabilities over time. Some crises may prove 

more difficult than anticipated or may escalate quickly. Reducing this risk and 

ensuring the ability of the Armed Forces to prevail will require “early-entry” 

capabilities forward for rapid action, while relying on surge capacity to provide followon forces. 

Disengagement. While the force-planning construct assumes that the United

States will disengage from some contingencies when faced with a second overlapping 

campaign, there may be some lesser contingencies that the United States is unwilling 

or unable to terminate quickly. There may be forces conducting long-term stability 

operations to reestablish favorable post conflict security conditions from which the 

United States cannot disengage. Under such circumstance some important 

capabilities may not be readily available at the outset of a subsequent conflict. 

Combatant commanders must consider this possibility when preparing to undertake 

operations, as many of the same capabilities critical to campaigns are required to 

conduct lesser contingency operations. 
22 

Escalation. Actions to size the force must take into account the fact that lesser 

contingencies have the potential to escalate to more demanding campaigns. 

Providing a wider range of military options during crises requires a force sized for a 

probable level of commitment across the full range of military operations – while 

ensuring that continued commitment to such contingencies does not preclude the 

ability of the United States to conduct major campaigns. 

Force Generation and Transformation. Force sizing and design must look 

beyond current operations. The health of the force rests on the ability to generate, 

sustain and transform capabilities over the long term. Sizing the force must include 

an appreciation of the force requirements to support ongoing training activities, “instride” transformation and other programs that may restrict the availability of forces 

and capabilities provided to combatant commanders. Assessments of acceptable 

levels of risk will dictate the type and kinds of capabilities that Armed Forces must 

possess to surge to meet the most demanding set of requirements. 

B. Risk and Force Assessments 

Given current force levels and appropriate resources, this strategy is executable. 

While US conventional military capabilities are, and will likely remain, unmatched for 

the foreseeable future, demands on the Armed Forces across the range of military 

operations remain considerable. Pursuing the WOT, conducting stability operations 

in Afghanistan and Iraq, ensuring power projection from the Homeland and

sustaining global commitments while protecting the long-term health of the Armed

Forces will require actions to mitigate risk. Commanders must develop options to 

balance demands like transformation, modernization and recapitalization that, if 

unrealized over the longer-term, could make it increasingly difficult to execute this 

military strategy. 

At present, the Armed Forces remain optimized for high-intensity conflict and 

combat operations in mature theaters. Our experience in the WOT has provided

insights on both the strengths and deficiencies in our concepts for employing military 

force as well as some of the capabilities the Armed Forces must improve. The Armed 

Forces remain fully capable of conducting major combat operations and a range of 

lesser contingencies. While we have adapted these forces successfully in OEF and 

OIF, success in future operations will require further and more substantive changes. 

Additionally, changes in the security environment will necessitate adaptations in the 

Joint Force. These changes include evolution of threats and an assessment of the 

ability of our allies and partners to contribute capabilities in support of US 

operational requirements. 

 
23 

V. Joint Vision for Future Warfighting 

The attributes and capabilities of the Joint Force provide the foundation for the 

force of the future. They provide the basis for adjustments to organizational design 

and doctrine as changes and challenges arise. They support the goals of the 

Department of Defense in ways that complement other instruments of national 

power. The goal is full spectrum dominance (FSD) – the ability to control any

situation or defeat any adversary across the range of military operations. 

A. Full Spectrum Dominance 

Focusing Transformation 

The National Defense Strategy 

identifies eight capability areas 

that “provide a transformation 

focus for the Department.” 

• Strengthening Intelligence

• Protecting Critical Bases of

Operation 

• Operating from the Commons:

Space, International Waters 

and Airspace, and Cyberspace

• Projecting and Sustaining US 

Forces in Distant Anti-Access 

Environments 

• Denying Enemies Sanctuary 

• Conducting Network-Centric 

Operations 

• Improving Proficiency for

Irregular Warfare

• Increasing Capabilities of 

Partners – International and

Domestic 

FSD is the overarching concept for 

applying force today and provides a vision for 

future joint operations. Achieving FSD 

requires the Armed Forces to focus 

transformation efforts on key capability areas 

that enhance the ability of the joint force to

achieve success across the range of military 

operations. FSD requires joint military 

capabilities, operating concepts, functional 

concepts and critical enablers adaptable to 

diverse conditions and objectives. 

FSD recognizes the need to integrate 

military activities with those of other 

government agencies, the importance of 

interoperability with allies and other partners 

and the criticality of transforming in-stride. 

FSD will serve to strengthen the trust and 

confidence that exists among Service 

components by acknowledging their

interdependence and developing concepts 

that reduce gaps and seams among 

organizations. It requires a capabilities-based approach that balances near-term 

capabilities with longer-term requirements and incorporates a global perspective on 

military and strategic risk. This integrative concept ensures military forces possess 

capabilities to rapidly conduct globally dispersed, simultaneous operations; foreclose 

adversary options; and, if required, generate the desired effects necessary to 

decisively defeat adversaries. 

Along with technological solutions to improve joint warfighting, we must also

examine our doctrine, organizations, training systems, materiel procurement, 

leadership preparation, personnel programs and facilities to ensure military 

superiority. This requires a more holistic approach to countering today’s threats and

preparing for those likely to emerge in the future. Reducing lead times associated

with research, development and fielding of new capabilities must be a priority. Such 

actions are essential to an in-stride approach to transforming the Joint Force and 
24 

executing concepts for future joint warfighting. Research and development programs 

are equally important to FSD, providing a hedge against the more uncertain aspects 

of the security environment. 

B. Initiatives 

The Services and combatant commands are actively involved in a number of 

initiatives to ensure military superiority. US Armed Forces must remain superior to 

any other nation’s while engaging in interagency and international efforts that 

continue to set the conditions to protect the United States and win the WOT. The 

following initiatives represent some of the ongoing activities that enhance joint 

warfighting and support transformation. 

Organizational Adaptation. Adaptive organizations must be more modular and

support rapid reconfiguration of joint capabilities for specific missions. Modular 

forces build on the core competencies of each Service component while enhancing the 

strength of joint operations. Organizational adaptation will require actions to balance 

Active and Reserve Components to sustain an appropriate mix of capabilities. 

Additionally, the creation of Standing Joint Force Headquarters (SJFHQ) will provide 

the core capability for a Joint Task Force (JTF) Headquarters within each combatant 

command. SJFHQs facilitate rapid employment of cross-service capabilities to 

respond to contingencies and crises around the world. Selectively manned, trained, 

and equipped, these SJFHQs will have the tools to operate effectively in any 

contingency. At the same time, the creation of a Joint National Training Capability 

will allow the Joint Force to train and gain experience at the tactical and operational 

levels of warfare. Once established, it will provide realistic training for joint forces 

and support battlespace awareness functions. This new training capability will better 

prepare the Joint Force for asymmetric challenges and a diverse array of threats. 

Interagency Integration and Information Sharing. Implementing CounterTerrorist (CT) Joint Interagency Coordination Groups (JIACGs) at five regional and

two global combatant commands facilitates interagency integration. The JIACGs are 

multifunctional elements that have dramatically increased information sharing across 

the interagency community. Continuing the experimentation process supports the 

Armed Forces’ goal to develop and field a “full spectrum” JIACG that will tap 

interagency expertise to address the many transnational issues facing the combatant 

commanders. In the near term the Armed Forces will facilitate information sharing 

and common situational awareness between elements of the JIACG with the DOD 

standard collaboration toolset that enables virtual collaboration. Interagency 

integration enables a strategic communications plan that includes elements of public

affairs and public diplomacy. In addition to military information operations, this 

strategic communication plan ensures unity of themes and messages, emphasizes 

success, accurately confirms or refutes external reporting on US operations, and

reinforces the legitimacy of US goals. Combatant commanders must be actively 

involved in the development, execution and support of this strategic communication 

campaign.
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Global Information Grid. The DOD is further developing a fully interoperable, 

interagency-wide global information grid (GIG). The GIG has the potential to be the 

single most important enabler of information and decision superiority. The GIG 

supports the creation of a collaborative information environment that facilitates 

information sharing, effective synergistic planning, and execution of simultaneous, 

overlapping operations. It will be a globally interconnected, end-to-end set of 

information capabilities, associated processes, and personnel for collecting, 

processing, storing, disseminating and managing information on demand to defense 

policymakers, warfighters and support personnel. Other initiatives include the 

transformation of battlespace awareness systems to include the Operational Net 

Assessment (ONA) Concept, the Multinational Information Sharing (MNIS) 

Transformation Change Package (TCP) and several Advanced Concept Technology 

Demonstrations (ACTDs). They respectively address information and knowledge for

decision-making; technical, policy, and organization issues; and innovative 

capabilities. These activities are among the ongoing efforts related to improving 

information sharing among coalition partners. 

Intelligence Campaign Planning. Achieving decision superiority in a dynamic 

environment requires the synchronization and integration of all sources of 

intelligence and information to include those from DOD and non-DOD agencies, law 

enforcement and multinational partners. Intelligence support must also be 

continuous across the entire spectrum of conflict, and span the range of all military 

operations from daily cooperative security and WOT requirements; pre-hostility, 

crisis, and major combat operations; to post-conflict stability operations. Intelligence 

operations strategies that support conflict prevention, mitigate against surprise 

attack, and position intelligence to best answer warfighting needs are an essential 

element of this support. Intelligence campaign plans implement these strategies by 

defining the comprehensive intelligence needs for all phases of operations and 

campaigns, including intelligence all-source analysis and production, multi-discipline 

collection, processing, and supporting information architecture. Such plans also 

provide for the widest possible dissemination and sharing of relevant information to 

ensure national and international unity of effort without compromising security. By 

addressing all aspects of intelligence operations, these plans focus the intelligence 

capabilities of the Department and the broader intelligence community on providing 

the critical information that leads to decision superiority. 

Enhancing Overseas Presence Posture. An integrated global presence and 

basing strategy provides the context for actions that enhance warfighting while 

strengthening and expanding the United States’ network of partnerships. Such a 

strategy provides rationale for adjustments in permanent and rotational presence, 

prepositioned equipment, global sourcing and surge capabilities that support these 

goals. Posture adjustments must support winning the WOT while setting the 

conditions that will ensure an enduring peace. Enhancing US overseas presence and 

global footprint must improve the ability of regional forces to employ an expeditionary 

approach in response to regional and global contingencies. They must remain 

“scaleable,” supporting plans to surge forces during crises when and where they are 

needed. Modifications to US overseas presence and posture must enhance the Armed 

Forces’ ability to deal with uncertainty, enable rapid operations and allow forces to 
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respond with greater speed than in the past. US overseas presence must also 

improve conditions in key regions and support conflict prevention. An integrated 

global presence and basing strategy serves to strengthen existing alliances while 

helping to create new partnerships. Strengthening regional alliances and coalitions 

helps to create favorable regional balances of power that help bring pressure to bear

on hostile or uncooperative regimes. Multinational partnerships expand

opportunities for coalition building through combined training, experimentation and 

transformation. An integrated global presence and basing strategy will expand the 

range of pre-conflict options to deter aggression and control conflict escalation while 

setting the conditions for a sustainable peace. 

Joint Leader Development. We continue to improve joint professional military 

education to provide more joint experiences, education and training to warfighters – 

junior and senior officers and noncommissioned officers. At the senior officer level, a 

modified capstone course will increase the emphasis on jointness while preparing 

senior officers to lead joint task forces and other joint operations. For junior officers 

and noncommissioned officers, incorporating joint education and training early in 

their careers ensures future leaders will more effectively integrate tactical operations 

with interagency and multinational components. 
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The Mission of the 

Armed Forces 

In support of the objectives of the NDS the Armed Forces

conduct military activities globally to: 

• Protect the United States against external attacks and 

aggression. 

• Prevent conflict and surprise attacks. 

• Prevail against adversaries. 

VI. Conclusion 

This strategy focuses the Armed Forces on winning the WOT and enhancing joint 

warfighting while supporting actions to create a joint, network-centric, distributed

force, capable of full spectrum dominance. Achieving decision superiority and 

generating tailored effects across the battlespace allows the Joint Force to control any 

situation over a range of military operations. To succeed, the Armed Forces must 

integrate Service capabilities in new and innovative, reduce seams between 

combatant commands and develop more collaborative relationships with partners at 

home and abroad. 

The NMS defines specific tasks for the Joint Force that allow commanders to 

assess military and strategic risk. It guides adjustments to plans and programs to 

generate, employ and sustain joint capabilities effectively. Additionally, it provides 

insights on operational matters, institutional issues, force management programs, 

future challenges and recommends courses of action to mitigate risk. 

While engaged in multiple worldwide operations to meet these requirements, the 

Armed Forces of the United States must maintain force quality, enhance joint 

warfighting capabilities and transform to meet the challenges of the 21st century. 

Executing this strategy will require a truly joint, full spectrum force – with a seamless 

mix of active forces, the Reserve Component, DOD civilians, and contracted workforce 

– fully grounded in a culture of innovation. It will require the highest quality people – 

disciplined, dedicated, professional – well trained, well educated, and well led. 

Appropriately resourced, this strategy will achieve the goals of the NSS and NDS, 

effectively balancing military and strategic risk over the long term. It will enable us to 

counter the threats of today and transform the Joint Force to master the challenges 

of the future. 
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 (INTENTIONALLY BLANK)
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