Capstone Concept for Joint Operations: Joint Force 2020

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4 Its purpose is to guide Force development toward Joint Force 2020, the Force called for by the new defense strategic guidance, Sustaining Global Leadership: Priorities for 21st Century Defense. A Capstone Concept by definition articulates a high-order vision of how the future Force will operate. It cannot by itself provide the detailed guidance necessary to realize the Joint Force of 2020. It can, however, describe the future operating environment, advance new concepts for Joint operations , and suggest attributes that will define the future Force . In this way, the CCJO aims to establish a bridge from the new strategic guidance to subordinate concepts, Force development guidance, and follow-on doctrine. This CCJO focuses on what is new and different in the future strategic environment. It builds on prior Capstone concepts, but also recognizes that much of the nature of conflict in the world is enduring.

5 War remains a clash between hostile, independent, and irreconcilable wills each trying to dominate the other through violence. Enemies will continue to search for, find, and exploit vulnerabilities. Even when waged with increasingly sophisticated technologies, the conduct of military operations remains a fundamentally human enterprise. Finally, this Concept recognizes that military Force is only one element of national power. In many cases strategic success will turn on our ability to operate in concert with the rest of the government, allied governments and their armed forces, and nongovernmental partners. 2. The Future Security Environment Sustaining Global Leadership identifies ten primary missions through which the Joint Force will protect national interests: Counter terrorism and irregular warfare Deter and defeat aggression Project power despite anti-access/area denial challenges 2 Counter weapons of mass destruction Operate effectively in cyberspace and space Maintain a safe, secure, and effective nuclear deterrent Defend the homeland and provide support to civil authorities Provide a stabilizing presence Conduct stability and counterinsurgency operations Conduct humanitarian, disaster relief, and other operations The Joint Force will accomplish these missions in a security environment characterized by several persistent trends.

6 The proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the rise of modern competitor states, violent extremism, regional instability, transnational criminal activity, and competition for resources. Armed conflicts will be inevitable in such an environment as will be opportunities for cooperation and peaceful competition. These are some of the continuities. We also anticipate differences going forward. The diffusion of advanced technology in the global economy means that middleweight militaries and non-state actors can now muster weaponry once available only to superpowers. The proliferation of cyber and space weapons, precision munitions, ballistic missiles, and anti-access and area denial capabilities will grant more adversaries the ability to inflict devastating losses. These threats place our access to the global commons at risk, target our forces as they deploy to the operational area, and can even threaten forces at their points of origin.

7 Meanwhile, adversaries continue to explore asymmetric ways to employ both crude and advanced technology to exploit vulnerabilities. Consequently, the capability advantage that forces have had over many potential adversaries may narrow in the future. Adversaries will not only have more advanced capabilities in every domain. More of them will have the ability to simultaneously fight across multiple domains. Space and cyberspace will play a particularly important role in the years ahead. As these domains figure more prominently in the projection of military power, operations in them will become both a precursor to and integral part of armed combat in the land, maritime and air domains. Future adversaries may even elect to attack only in cyberspace, where military networks and critical infrastructure are vulnerable to remote attack, and actions remain difficult to trace. The diffusion of technology that is transforming warfare is also reshaping global politics.

8 Social media can catalyze protests in days that popular movements once took months or years to build. The penetration of mobile technology especially in developing nations will dramatically increase the number of people able to access and share 3 information rapidly. The ubiquity of personal communications devices with cameras and full motion video also allows much of the world to observe unfolding events in real time, rendering future operations increasingly sensitive to popular perceptions. As we have learned in Iraq and Afghanistan, military actions will receive intense media scrutiny, a dynamic that potentially invests otherwise inconsequential actions with strategic importance. Digital technology is also profoundly altering command and control within our own military and between military and civilian leaders. Just as commanders now have greater connectivity with their subordinates, national command authorities will enjoy extensive visibility of Joint operations , changing how military and political leaders relate as operations unfold.

9 In this new global political environment distinguished by digital networks and worldwide flows of capital, material, people, and information the geography of threats and crises grow more complex. While most security challenges remain rooted in a place or region, many will be driven by and in turn drive transnational dynamics. In a world where fragile critical infrastructure is widely connected to the internet, and in which sabotage and terrorism have profound effects, adversaries can also more easily escalate a conflict laterally, including to the homeland. In such a world, the dimensions of any particular security challenge may not align with existing boundaries or command structures. Likewise, the conventions by which wars are fought are no longer as settled as they once were. Notions of who is a combatant and what constitutes a battlefield in the digital age are rapidly shifting beyond previous norms.

10 Taken together, these factors give rise to a future security environment likely to be more unpredictable, complex, and potentially dangerous than today. The accelerating rates of change present in so many aspects of this future security environment will require greater speed in the planning and conduct of military operations . Once in a fight, adversary capabilities and tactics will also shift more quickly. With more actors having access to destructive technologies, forces will also have to cope with a potentially greater degree of uncertainty with respect to how and against whom they will fight. Although broad trends in warfare can often be discerned in advance, it will be impossible to predict with certainty when, where, and for what purpose Joint Forces will operate. Joint Forces must also adapt to the nation s fiscal environment. Though some key capability areas will see increased investment, the cumulative impact of retrenchment in defense accounts will be reduced 4 Elements of Globally Integrated operations Mission command Seize, retain and exploit the initiative Global agility Partnering Flexibility in establishing Joint Forces Cross-domain synergy Use of flexible, low-signature capabilities Increasingly discriminate to minimize unintended consequences capacity in terms of overall Force structure.