This excellent report has been professionally converted for accurate flowing-text e-book format reproduction. A retired Army officer with extensive theater-level planning experience, Dr. Jeffrey Reilly serves as director of joint education at the Air Force's Air Command and Staff College. In 2010, 2011, and 2012, he conducted field research on operational design in Afghanistan. His study examines the elements of operational design and shows how design facilitates decision making to reduce operational risks and increase the likelihood that a military plan survives first contact. He argues that although operational design is an iterative process, structure is a key component of design that focuses critical thinking and moves planners from peripheral intellectual discussions to core planning issues. He also contends that current joint doctrine does not adequately distinguish operational design from operational art, which may lead military planners to develop a solution before the full nature of the problem has been understood. Reilly provides a theoretical framework for understanding design and applying it to major combat operations as well as counterinsurgencies. Numerous historical and hypothetical examples show how operational design influences the outcome of military engagements.

Chapter 1 - The Process of Operational Design * Chapter 2 - Developing an Operational Approach * Chapter 3 - Methodology for Understanding and Employing Operational Design * Chapter 4 - Establishing the Link between Operational Design and Decision Analysis * Chapter 5 - Operational Design and Counterinsurgency