Strategic Direction For Joint Operations - 1477 Words

Today’s security environment is volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA). The challenges presented by globalization, emerging powers as well as the continuing threat of terrorism indicate the future security environment will continue to gain complexity. Adding to this complexity is the challenge of increasingly constrained fiscal resources. To protect U.S. National Security interests in this complex and constrained environment, Joint Force 2025 (JF-2025) requires four core capabilities, it must be agile, adaptable, survivable and integrated. This essay discusses the key strategic direction for JF-2025, the capabilities required of the Joint Force, each member services and the inherent associated risks. The Capstone Concept for†¦show more content†¦The National Military Strategy of the United States articulates several specific challenges to U.S. National Security interests that will confront JF-2025. Russian aggression toward its neighbors and defiance of international standards of behavior threatens stability in Europe. Iranian nuclear ambitions and support of terror menaces the Middle East. North Korea is a threat to U.S. Asian allies Japan and the Republic of Korea. The emerging power of China offers both opportunity in the form of greater economic cooperation but also challenges as they expand their military capabilities, threaten Taiwan and make unreasonable claims on the South China Sea. Finally, violent extremist organizations (VEOs) such as ISIS and al-Qaida continue to degrade regional stability and threaten U.S. interests. The emergence of near-peer competitors like China and Russia and the threat of rouge regional powers like Iran and North Korea continue to make inter-state war conceivable for JF-2025. The threat posed by VEOs and failed states creating regional instability keeps overseas contingency operations a likely possibility. In between these on the â€Å"Continuum of Conflict† is â€Å"Hybrid Conflict† which combines conventional and non-conventional forces employing both traditional military force and irregular methods including terror and cyber-attacks. The challenges posed across the â€Å"Continuum of Conflict† will further test JF-2025. In his assessment of the