Passing the Baton

The purpose of this monograph is to justify the change in staff structure for Army brigades in order to mitigate the complexity of the Peace Operations environment. With peace operations increasing in frequency, Brigade Combat Teams (BCTs) will provide a bulk of the forces that are executing these missions. While the environment that the BCTs operate in has changed, the fundamental organizational structure that enables effective functioning in that environment has not. As the army looks to redesign its staff structure for the future force, the Army should account for the increased complexity of the operating environment in its organizational design. This study offers Mintzberg 's organizational design methodology as a way to design an organization for a complex environment. This monograph recommends an increase in rank of the planners at the BCT level. This change will enhance operational cognition at the tactical level, enhance parallel and collaborative planning capabilities and enable this echelon to conduct campaign plan maintenance. These capabilities are key in minimizing the "operational disconnects "" that are occurring during Peace Operations. These "operational disconnects "" at the brigade level are hindering the United States from achieving policy objectives.