JCISFA Conference Musing

[marct]

It sounds like a great conference, Rob. Any idea when the RoL handbook will be coming out?

Marc

[Rob Thornton]

Hi Marc,
JFCOM has a pretty good plan. See if I can articulate their plan without butchering it. They are going to spiral chapters out as they are finished - they understand that perfect is the enemy of good enough - there is a demand for this as CDRs and Staffs wrestle with the "whats" and "hows" of RoL issues and specifically with Military Support to Rule of Law.
I beleive the goal is to have a complete handbook out by the Fall - hopefully incorporated will be feedback from user on the spiraled chpaters.

Marc (and others) - does everybody understand the differences between say a handbook and doctrine?
Best, Rob

[marct]

Hi Rob,

Marc (and others) - does everybody understand the differences between say a handbook and doctrine?

I would assume that "handbook" means preliminary thoughts towards doctrine. Is that close to it?

Marc

[Rob Thornton]

Marc - that can be true, but its not always true. Getting something codified into doctrine and into the hands of the user can be a long process where the final product can become divorced of what spawned it, or can wind up being watered down, depending on the interests and the players it represents - sort of like legislation - but without the penalties of enforcement. I'd say we are getting much better and faster for a number of reasons - IT, the war, etc but its still a condition. You'll often find the services putting something together on their own - that is both faster and more focused then waiting on a Joint Consensus. You'll also find some of the Joint doctrine picks up on existing service doctrine, then applies the Joint add-ons or take-aways - ex. they are working on a Joint 3-24.

This is an intersting one given not only the internal discussions it generated within the Army and Marines, but also the external ones - like USAF's MG Dunlap and some from the reitired community who still have a public life. In some cases you can wind up having to satisfice, or include things, omit things etc. in order to get something staffed and approved by all the services. I'm not sure if they do, but I think JFCOM should get a "Joint" Line Item Veto to expedite Joint doctrine and to keep it on track.

Hand Books and TTP type manuals don't have to get staffed like doctrine - they often are - in kind of an informal way - peer review type efforts, but the document does not have to get "stuck in court" while the lawyers argue for their lobby groups and constiuents. Now - don't get me wrong, sometimes things need to go to "court" but certainly not everything. I'm more of a fan of expressions like "perfect is the enemy of good enough" and of "descriptive" vs. "presrciptive" - however, some of the services, and some folks prefer or need it different - goes back to their service cultures.

So while JFCOM can have a reasonably short flash to bang on handbook, the tail for getting it into doctrine could grow far into future.

Does that help?

Best, Rob