Regionally Aligned Forces: Concept Viability and Implementation

Abstract : In the fall of 2012, a division commander requested the U.S. Army War College (USAWC) consider the challenges of turning a division headquarters into a joint task force (JTF) headquarters. The USAWC provided onsite assistance to help explore this challenge. One year later, a combatant commander requested that the USAWC consider the challenges of the Regionally Aligned Forces (RAF) concept. The combatant commander s deployed headquarters faced many of the same challenges identified in 2012. A division headquarters of approximately 150 personnel, deployed under the RAF concept, is smaller than would be expected as an operational JTF. Although focused on division-level challenges, the commander forward asked the USAWC team to consider the broader implications of implementing RAF across the Army. In response, the USAWC established a student/faculty study group to address this strategic issue. The USAWC Study Group examined the RAF concept, explored capability and capacity shortages, and considered the compounded effect of related implications from the different Warfighting Functions. Organized across the Army Warfighting Functions (WfFs)1 and through the lenses of Doctrine, Organizations, Training, Materiel, Leadership and education, Personnel, and Facilities (DOTMLPF),2 this compendium reports the results of that effort. The Army defines Regionally Aligned Forces (RAF) as: 1) those units assigned or allocated to combatant commands, and 2) those service-retained, combatant command-aligned forces prepared by the Army for regional missions. They are drawn from the total force, including the Active Army, the Army National Guard, and the Army Reserve.3 RAF consist of organizations and capabilities that are forward stationed, operating in a combatant command area of responsibility, and supporting (or ready to support) combatant commands through reach-back capabilities from outside the area of responsibility.