Realizing All-Domain Protection

With the publication of the aspirational U.S. Army Futures Command (AFC) Pamphlet (Pam) 71-20-7, Army Futures Command Concept for Protection 2028,[1] the Maneuver Support–Capabilities Development Integration Directorate (MS-CDID), AFC, Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, was directed to lead a study to determine capability gaps and potential solutions for all-domain protection (ADP). Commanding General John M. Murray, AFC, Austin, Texas, assigned subordinate organizations to work on doctrine, organization, training, materiel, leadership and education, personnel, facilities, and policy (DOTMLPF-P)-integrated solutions for high-priority gaps in order to fully realize Army ADP. In collaboration with other capabilities development integration directorates (CDIDs) from the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), MS-CDID will complete the ADP capabilities-based assessment (CBA) by 1st quarter, Fiscal Year (FY) 2024, and protection stakeholders will transform ADP from concept to capability.

The CBA process will begin with a functional area analysis (FAA) in FY 22, followed by a functional needs analysis (FNA)/gap analysis in 3d quarter, FY 22, and a functional solutions analysis in 3d quarter, FY 23. During the functional solutions analysis, AFC will assign organization and materiel gaps to CDIDs for solutions analysis. TRADOC will assign the remaining gaps across the other DOTMLPF-P domains to centers of excellence for resolution. The ADP CBA will result in a prioritized list of capability gaps and potential solutions to achieve ADP for multi-domain operations.

AFC Pam 71-20-7, the main source document for realizing ADP, describes how the Army preserves the force from threats in all domains, enabling commanders to apply maximum combat power and accomplish the mission. It discusses how the Army denies the adversaries freedom of action and enables friendly forces to access positions of advantage, considering the 44 required capabilities (19 of which have proponents outside of maneuver support) of the concept. Using this approved concept, the main objective of the ADP CBA involves identifying required capabilities and their associated operational characteristics and attributes, determining the capability gaps and associated operational risks, and assessing the viability of materiel and nonmateriel solutions. It is not feasible to address every protection-related required capability; therefore, to refine the list of required capabilities for the CBA, MS CDID will focus its efforts on the following question: How can the Army converge effects to identify, open, and exploit protected windows of superiority while maintaining persistent protection for select mission-essential nodes, thus realizing ADP for multi-domain operations?

Because ADP is woven with capability threads from all warfighting functions, contributions from across the Army modernization enterprise must be integrated into the CBA. MS-CDID will accomplish this integration with a series of learning activities that support the FAA and FNA and incorporate each stakeholder’s protection-required capabilities, tasks, and gaps. The learning activities include corps and theater protection cell tabletop exercises, the protection brigade and corps protection cell assessment conducted during Joint Warfighting Assessment (JWA) 22, and the integration of the protection concept into the Future Studies Program. MS-CDID plans to execute two events for the FAA and three events for the FNA and to host events focused on the science and technology community.

Task Analysis Workshop 1, held in November 2021, introduced the protection community and other interested organizations to the ADP CBA. Stakeholder participation set the conditions for the entire CBA. Preparation and participation were critical in identifying protection capability requirements and tasks. MS-CDID will host a second workshop to focus on identifying the conditions and standards for the tasks. During the FNA phase of the study, the output of the FAA to determine capability gaps, shortfalls, and redundancies. Three workshops were conducted to identify the capability gaps and assess risks (expressed in terms of likelihood of occurrence and impact on operations) during the FNA. TRADOC and the Futures and Concept Center CDIDs will provide a detailed assessment of the full range of DOTMLPF-P solutions that may resolve the critical/high-priority capability gaps identified during the FNA. The ADP CBA will document the requirements (materiel and nonmateriel) that drive the Joint Capabilities Integrated Development System and the acquisition processes to deliver solutions that achieve ADP for multi-domain operations.

In conclusion, the ADP CBA is the mechanism that will be used to determine the capabilities necessary to ensure that multi-domain operations forces are protected. In order to effectively conduct the CBA, MS-CDID needs the support of all centers of excellence and multiple organizations at all echelons within the protection community, the science and technology community, and others in identifying the appropriate required capabilities, tasks, gaps, and solutions within each functional area. There is no better time than now to collaborate with the MS-CDID to accomplish this mission.