The Planning Process
Page 2 | Methodology & Planning Assumptions »
Organization
A Long-Range Plan Executive Steering Committee (LRP-ESC) was established
to conduct the review of the Department’s Future Plans. This Steering
Committee is composed of representatives of the components that comprise
the Department: Army National Guard, Air National Guard, Veterans Affairs,
Central Support Division and Division of Homeland Security. The Deputy
Adjutant General chaired the Executive Committee. Each component had
two senior members on the Executive Steering Committee.
After a careful review was made of the current plans, the Executive Committee decided that a re-write was necessary and their initial decision was to develop a ten year Future Reach Plan with a two year Action Plan.
The following NJDMAVA component committees were formed: Army, Air, and Veterans. Central Support personnel were members of all component committees. The Executive Steering Committee appointed members of the component committees and training was provided. The roles and functions of the committees will be discussed under methodology. Next steps will be a two-year action plan that integrates Homeland Security and Central Support Services.
Developing The Planning Future
Central to the NJDMAVA Long-Range Planning Process was the development
of a vision of the future upon which to base the plan. Consensus was
reached that a 20-year future projection, common to past plans was, by
its scope, too speculative to be of real value in establishing the Department’s
priorities and hence its decisions. The decision was made to project
ten years into the future.
Although considered, the Executive Committee decided not to develop, in depth, possible world scenarios or characteristics ten years hence. The four future scenarios discussed were: U.S.A. Isolationism, U.S.A. as World Peacekeeper, the rise of Neo-nationalism, and a Muted Multi-polar world. The Executive Committee elected to invest planning time in the development of sound planning assumptions rather than scenario based planning. It was felt that the planning assumptions contained enough analytical material that, when combined with the known world threats, opportunities and trends, provided the sub-committees a better guide than scenarios and would serve to give greater focus to their planning.