Sigh.
The standard response to a question that should be easy for an expert to answer: leave, muttering something about me being crazy.
I believe it was Albert Einstein who said that a person who couldn’t explain something to a little child must not understand it himself.
I don’t think the question is that hard. It’s frustrating that nobody will answer it.
But I do wish you the best as well.
Okay. Here’s a document which sort of outlines things, although the anachronyms are hard to follow for a novice like me.
www.dtic.mil/doctrine/jrm/jplan.doc
This is what it says:
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There are several types of deliberate plans that are prepared under joint procedures and in prescribed formats as either an OPLAN, CONPLAN with or without time-phased force and deployment data (TPFDD), or functional plan.
An OPLAN is a complete and detailed operation plan containing a full description of the concept of operations. It identifies the specific forces, functional support, deployment sequence, and resources required to execute the plan and provides closure estimates for their movement into the theater.
A CONPLAN without TPFDD is an operation plan in an abbreviated format that would require considerable expansion or alteration to convert it into an OPLAN, campaign plan, or OPORD. It contains the CINC’s Strategic Concept and appropriate annexes.
A CONPLAN with TPFDD is a CONPLAN that requires more detailed planning for phased deployment of forces. Detailed planning may be required to support a contingency of compelling interest and critical to national security but is not likely to occur in the near term. It may also be required where the primary purpose is force movement planning in support of alliances.
A functional plan involves the conduct of military operations in a peacetime or permissive environment. These plans are traditionally developed for specific functions or discrete tasks, such as nuclear weapons recovery or evacuation, logistics or communications, but may be developed to address functional peacetime operations such as disaster relief or humanitarian assistance. (JP 5-0, Chapter I, para 13a) “
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I don’t see any other explanation for CINC so I would gather that means Commander-In-Chief. Do I have that right?
Seems like the first step where the CINC’s input is translated into military plans is a CONPLAN, which needs to be developed into an OPLAN which would include overall plans for troop deployment.
As I understand it, that would mean that if Obama authorizes a “surge in Afghanistan”, that is basically a CONPLAN. The Joint Chiefs of Staff work together to develop that into an operational plan (OPLAN) which includes figuring out what forces need to be where and when. Those plans are implemented by the units called upon.
Am I making sense of this at all? I don’t claim to be an expert, but I am a willing and eager learner and if anybody can help me make sense of it, or correct me where I am wrong, I would be most appreciative.