Progress and Opportunities

For all intents and purposes, the Services shut the CINCs out of the resource allocation process from 1958 until 1984. Since the ultimate goal of PPBS is to provide the CINCs with the best mix of forces, equipment and support attainable within fiscal constraints, the Deputy Secretary of Defense (DEPSECDEF) William Howard Taft IV developed the CINCs' warfighting integrated priority lists (IPLs) process. He designed the IPL process with the purpose of addressing the CINCs' highest unfilled warfighting requirements during the programming portion of PPBS, an action that pre-dated the 1986 Goldwater-Nichols legislation. The purpose of this research project is to perform a follow-up of DEPSECDEF Taft's initiatives to determine if the IPL process is indeed working as intended. The author conducted numerous interviews, analyzed questionnaire responses, and performed data analysis in reaching his conclusion and opportunities. The author concluded that while there has been some progress, opportunities for improvement still remain. Unfortunately, many of the significant shortfalls that Taft addressed in the mid-1980s are unchanged. While it is impossible to satisfy all of the CINCs' unfilled warfighting priority requirements, the paper identifies opportunities for the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Services, the Joint Staff, and the CINCs' staffs on how to improve the IPL process.