MC CoE hosting force design seminar

The Mission Command Center of Excellence is hosting the Multi-Component Headquarters Design Seminar today and May 2 in the Mission Command Battle Lab and with other sites connected via videoteleconference.

Seminar participants face two challenging scenario vignettes that require leaders to determine the adequacy of the capabilities and capacity of staff cells confronted with a complex problem situation. Led by MC CoE Director Maj. Gen. Thomas S. James Jr., the seminar will identify operational risks, mission command system implications and the overall suitability of the proposed redesign of corps and division headquarters. Participants will then identify risk mitigation strategies.

In response to the Chief of Staff of the Army’s headquarters reduction initiative, the multi-component headquarters will consist of soldiers from the active component, the Army National Guard and the U.S. Army Reserve and will reduce corps and division headquarters size by about 10 and 20 percent, respectively.

The Mission Command Capability Development and Integration Directorate’s Requirements Development Division developed a force design update that proposes multi-component division and corps headquarters that are effective, responsive and capable across the range of military operations.

RDD collaborated extensively across the institutional and operational Army to ensure the new designs were suitable for all Army forces and units. Forces Command took designs drafted by RDD and the Combined Arms Doctrine Directorate and developed courses of action that could meet operational timelines. FORSCOM worked with the Army National Guard and U.S. Army Reserve to identify and address mobilization and training issues. FORSCOM’s efforts serve as a baseline for the seminar.

James said he sees the seminar as an opportunity to leverage the capabilities of the MCBL.

“The lab has the capability and connections to assess senior leaders’ inquiries quickly,” he said.

James added that MCBL’s collaboration with FORSCOM, the centers of excellence and MC CoE directorates — all in time to support the force design update submission — reinforces this assessment.

Participants will include leaders of Army service component commands, corps, active component and National Guard divisions, the U.S. Army Combined Arms Center and other Army centers of excellence. Additionally, representatives from the School for Advanced Military Studies at Fort Leavenworth, the Department of the Army staff, the Army Capabilities Integration Center and force management/force design experts will participate.

The MC CoE will lead the analysis of the event, employing a tool created by the Training and Doctrine Command Analysis Center to capture qualitative and quantitative data. Knowledge created in the seminar will inform the force design update, as well as other doctrine, organization, training, materiel, leadership and education, personnel and facilities, and policy changes necessary to implement the new designs with the least risk to operational commanders.