Campaigning: The Journal of the Joint Forces Staff College 27 September 2021

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NExUS

The essence of jointness is the intersection of national security related communities. Joint Forces Staff College 

describes itself as bridging the strategic and operational nexus, which is the column’s inspiration and namesake. 

The Nexus column will draw from, analyze, and discuss the intersections—the nexuses—of disciplines, professions, 

and cultures, amongst other potential areas, in hopes of developing new understanding, appreciation, and 

perspectives. Welcome to the Nexus.

Doctrine as Adhesive: Teaching Students How to 

Manage the Dynamics of Staff Work

Written by1

LTC Daniel Sukman 

U.S. Army

Assistant Professor, JFSC

Strategic guidance informs defense policy, which in turn guides the development of operational 

campaign and contingency plans. Moreover, the release of a National Security Strategy, National 

Defense Strategy, and National Military Strategy often come with a series of articles, essays, 

speeches, and interviews as part of a strategic communications roll-out. In December of 2020, 

key joint doctrine began to change with the publication of Joint Publication 5-0, Joint Planning. 

Further, accompanying the election and swearing-in of President Biden was a first-ever Interim 

National Security Strategy (INSS), a document that precedes a complete National Security 

Strategy. At the nexus of the operational and strategic level of war, the Joint Forces Staff College 

anticipates changes to joint doctrine and shifts in strategic guidance to shape the curriculum in 

the near future. The strategies and strategic communications will shortly supersede current 

readings in JFSC’s Joint Advanced Warfighting School (JAWS) and Joint Combined 

Warfighting School (JCWS). As the interpreters of joint doctrine bridging the strategic and 

operational worlds, joint planners understand the dynamic nature of strategic guidance, 

continually assessing how operational level plans fit into the strategic picture. 

Part of the dynamic and understanding how to fit operations into the strategic picture requires 

understanding the relationship between policies. Joint doctrine is a heuristic or a rule of thumb 

for planners to use to solve complex problems in the joint force. Indeed, joint doctrine provides a 

common language and framework for planners to communicate on joint staffs. 2020 witnessed 

the publication of J.P. 5-0, Joint Planning, and 2021 is expected to see a revised J.P. 1, Doctrine 

for the Armed Forces, and J.P. 3-0, Joint Operations. Together, these three publications form the 

core of JCWS and JAWS doctrinal instruction. It is this joint doctrine that forms the adhesive 

between policy, strategy and plans at the nexus of the operational and strategic level of war. 

1 The views expressed are those of the author(s) and do not reflect the official policy or position of Joint 

Forces Staff College, National Defense University, the Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government.
Campaigning: The Journal of the Joint Forces Staff College 27 September 2021

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The baseline policy for military planners commences with the National Defense Strategy. The 

document informs the National Military Strategy, which then informs planning documents such 

as the Joint Strategic Campaign Plan (JSCP). The implications for JFSC and the faculty will be 

developing up-to-date instructional documents for students to guide the development of their 

campaign and contingency wargaming plans. Leaders on operational and strategic level staffs 

require a clear understanding of what guides their day-to-day activity and how to align strategies 

and plans across the joint force. In practice, alignment of day-to-day activities translates as a 

requirement to understand senior leader priorities. If doctrine is the adhesive, then senior leader 

priorities is the arrangement of the pieces that will adhere. 

In one sense, it is the goal of Joint Forces Staff College to teach the formula for the adhesive and 

let the students experiment with employing it. Policy, strategy, and doctrine, much like the 

strategic and operational environment are dynamic, not static. Not only do they change with new 

administrations, but they change as new information informs senior leader’s and elected 

official’s decision-making. Just as strategy is dynamic, so too is professional military education. 

PME must ensure that course work is relevant and comprehensive, ensuring students who 

graduate depart with the right knowledge, skills, and abilities. Under that interpretation, one of 

the most important skills JFSC teaches is how to get unstuck from dogmatic and unhelpful 

patterns of thinking that don’t support senior leader demands.