Army's Military Decision Making

The United States Army largely missed the signs that a new threat was approaching, after the end of the Cold War, and was slow to understand and adequately plan for the changes that have since come to fruition. So how does the U.S. Army improve? The Army improves by transforming itself in order to more effectively deal with the increased complexity of the current and future operating environment(s). In order for the U.S. Army to be better equipped to formulate an excellent plan for the right problem I believe that it is necessary for us to expand the current military problem solving and planning process. It is my contention that the United States Army's military decision making process, which has changed little since its debut in the 1932, is no longer viable given the current, and future, operating environment(s) and must be updated and/or expanded in order to better affect the current and future environments. The U.S. Army must adopt measures at all levels of the planning process to better understand the complexities of the environment within which they are operating. The U.S. Army must better communicate its plan and not just to other military members, but also to other governmental agencies (OGA), non-governmental organizations (NGO), and multi-national and coalition partners. And as an area warranting further research, I will discuss why the U.S. Army should consider expanding its current force structure to more adequately address the complex situations faced.