Strategic planning and resource allocation for defense

This study describes and analyzes the long-range strategic planning process of the U.S. Department of Defense. It assesses the competition for control of strategic planning and resource allocation decision making between the Defense Department and the U.S. Congress. The primary focus of the paper is on the organizational and political dynamics of strategic planning for defense. It also analyzes the negotiation of the strategic plan and budget before Congress and describes the politics of implementing the strategic plan with the approval of Congressional oversight. Because so much of the strategic plan and budget of the Department of Defense is determined by Congress, accurate analysis of strategic planning for defense cannot ignore the political context within which planning and decisions are made and executed.