FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (Feb. 26, 2009) - The Army has announced that the commander of the Combined Arms Center has been designated as the Army's proponent for all doctrine, organization, training, materiel, leadership and education, personnel and facilities functions, also known as DOTMLPF functions, for stability operations and security force assistance.
As proponent for combined arms operations, CAC will become proponent for Army full spectrum operations, specifying the conduct of offensive, defensive and stability operations, according to a memorandum sent to the Army Jan. 22 by Lt. Gen. James D. Thurman, the Army's deputy chief of staff, G-3/5/7. Army Regulation 5-22, The Army Proponent System, will be amended to reflect the change, the memo said.
"(The change) gives CAC the ability to better integrate and coordinate a lot of what is already existing," said Col. Daniel Roper, director of the U.S. Army and Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Center at Fort Leavenworth. "We're looking at the impact of that responsibility and doing a mission analysis of what we need for that responsibility.
"We're basically establishing a headquarters over elements that already exist," he said. "The biggest challenge is going to be knowing what's going on across the Army. Many, many units are doing these types of operations."
Thurman's memo went on to say the Peace Keeping and Stability Operations Institute, part of the U.S. Army War College's Center for Strategic Leadership in Carlisle, Pa., will support CAC to ensure DOTMLPF considerations are shared with, benefit from and are integrated with those of joint, U.S. government civilian, multi-national and international organizations. CAC is also directed to collaborate with PKSOI to outline the support it requires to execute stability operation proponent responsibilities.
Though the commander for U.S. Special Operations Command is to be named the joint proponent for security force assistance in a forthcoming Department of Defense Instruction, the memo said, CAC is best suited to address future developments for Army multi-purpose forces. The CAC commander will remain director of the Joint Center for International Security Force Assistance when the organization transfers from control of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to become a USSOCOM subordinate activity, the memo said.
"CAC becomes the focal point for our interagency partners involved in civil-military integration for complex operations," Roper said.
Security force assistance training is conducted at Fort Riley, Kan., but that may soon expand, he said.
"We're looking at how to export that training and what doctrine is needed to support it," he said.