ARLINGTON, Va. (Jan. 26, 2015) – A panel of military officers discussed the concepts of the Strategic Landpower Task Force Jan. 16 at the Center for Strategic International Studies in Washington, D.C.
Developed from the lessons learned over the past 12 years of conflict, the Joint Concept for Integrated Campaigning (JCIC) and the Human Aspects of Military Operations (HAMO) concepts are currently making the migration into joint development.
“The concepts will transition from the conceptual research the Strategic Landpower Task Force has done into joint development,” said Brig. Gen. Kevin J. Killea, director, Futures Directorate, Vice Chief of Naval Research, Commanding General, Marine Corps Warfighting Lab.
The premise of the Joint Concept for Integrated Campaigning is to provide a more coherent and complete method and model to campaigning, Killea explained.
“What the concept will do is provide the joint force with a new approach to campaign planning that will link operations simultaneously and in-depth, across all domains, functions and across the range of military operations.” JCIC seeks to better enable and empower the joint force, especially in achieving campaign objectives in the uncertain and gray conditions between peace and war.
The Army, Marine Corps and U.S. Special Operations Command chartered the Strategic Landpower Task Force in January 2013 to study the application of landpower to achieve national objectives in the future.
“We have to think differently about how we run operations, and we have to focus them on human objectives,” said Maj. Gen. William C. Hix, deputy director, Army Capabilities Integration Center, U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command.
He also noted the importance of “the intersection of land, cyber and human elements, and how the increasing speed of human interactions is a driving factor in current events around the world.”
The HAMO concept will build on recent joint concepts and doctrine that address many human aspects of military operations, while focusing on capability gaps that still remain.
“The HAMO concept provides value in that it arranges for joint operations … centered on the criticality and the centrality of humans in warfare,” said Maj. Gen. Christopher K. Haas, director, Force Management and Development, U.S. Special Operations Command.
He said this would be done by a unique process that consistently analyzes the elements that affect human behavior – social, physical, psychological and cultural – to better achieve operational and strategic objectives.
Future steps will include getting the HAMO and JCIC concepts approved and changing the mindset in how the U.S. conducts operations, he said.