The Department of Defense (DOD) global force management process (GFMAP) provides senior leaders a strategic methodology to align, assign, allocate, and distribute available forces to enhance combatant commander’s (CCDR) capabilities. The GFM process informs the global force management board (GFMAB) with a joint combat capability assessment (JCCA) to identify strategic and military risk along with risk reduction options. GFM elements consist of a convening board chaired by a general officer with representatives from the joint staff, U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM), U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM), and U.S. Cyber Command (USCYBERCMD). The board identifies strategic-level issues and provides recommendations to the Secretary of Defense (SECDEF) for decision. These recommendations provide sourcing solutions to CCDRS emergent requirements (U.S. Army War College, 2018).
CCDRs assess assigned forces already allocated against emergent mission requirements. Suppose the CCDR does not have resources to meet the developing needs, or there is a significant operational risk with utilizing forces available. In that case, they will begin to document the force requirement. The CCDR considers allocation, augmentation, rotational, in- lieu of (ILO), and ad-hoc methodologies for recommendations. Once complete, the CCDR will forward the request to the joint staff (JS) for processing. The joint force planning staff will provide recommended sourcing solutions to the GFMAB for the SECDEF final determination. The CCDR must articulate the valid need to mitigate the operational risk. CCDRS must review every operation in progress to include future-shaping operations and appropriately align available forces to the maximum extent possible. CCDRS usually have a good understanding of organizational readiness and capabilities to determine if force allocations can meet the strategic mission (Department of Defense, 2017).
References
Department of Defense. (2017). Joint planning (JP 5-0). Retrieved from
https://www.jcs.mil/Portals/36/Documents/Doctrine/pubs/jp5_0_20171606.pdf
U.S. Army War College (2018). How the Army Runs: A senior leader reference guide.
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