2 0 1 8
of
The United States of America
Summary of the
National Defense Strategy
Sharpening the American Military’s Competitive Edge
Table of Contents
Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………….…. 1
Strategic Environment ………………………………………………………………………….. 2
Department of Defense Objectives ……………………………………………………………... 4
Strategic Approach ……………………………………………………………………………… 4
Build a More Lethal Force ………………………………………………………………. 5
Strengthen Alliances and Attract New Partners …………………………………………. 8
Reform the Department for Greater Performance and Affordability ……………………10
Conclusion …………………………………………………………………………….……….. 11
NATIONAL DEFENSE STRATEGY
1
INTRODUCTION
The Department of Defense’s enduring mission is to provide combat-credible military forces needed
to deter war and protect the security of our nation. Should deterrence fail, the Joint Force is prepared
to win. Reinforcing America’s traditional tools of diplomacy, the Department provides military
options to ensure the President and our diplomats negotiate from a position of strength.
Today, we are emerging from a period of strategic atrophy, aware that our competitive military
advantage has been eroding. We are facing increased global disorder, characterized by decline in the
long-standing rules-based international order—creating a security environment more complex and
volatile than any we have experienced in recent memory. Inter-state strategic competition, not
terrorism, is now the primary concern in U.S. national security.
China is a strategic competitor using predatory economics to intimidate its neighbors while militarizing
features in the South China Sea. Russia has violated the borders of nearby nations and pursues veto
power over the economic, diplomatic, and security decisions of its neighbors. As well, North Korea’s
outlaw actions and reckless rhetoric continue despite United Nation’s censure and sanctions. Iran
continues to sow violence and remains the most significant challenge to Middle East stability. Despite
the defeat of ISIS’s physical caliphate, threats to stability remain as terrorist groups with long reach
continue to murder the innocent and threaten peace more broadly.
This increasingly complex security environment is defined by rapid technological change, challenges
from adversaries in every operating domain, and the impact on current readiness from the longest
continuous stretch of armed conflict in our Nation’s history. In this environment, there can be no
complacency—we must make difficult choices and prioritize what is most important to field a lethal,
resilient, and rapidly adapting Joint Force. America’s military has no preordained right to victory on
the battlefield.
This unclassified synopsis of the classified 2018 National Defense Strategy articulates our strategy to
compete, deter, and win in this environment. The reemergence of long-term strategic competition,
rapid dispersion of technologies, and new concepts of warfare and competition that span the entire
spectrum of conflict require a Joint Force structured to match this reality.
A more lethal, resilient, and rapidly innovating Joint Force, combined with a robust constellation of
allies and partners, will sustain American influence and ensure favorable balances of power that
safeguard the free and open international order. Collectively, our force posture, alliance and
partnership architecture, and Department modernization will provide the capabilities and agility
required to prevail in conflict and preserve peace through strength.
The costs of not implementing this strategy are clear. Failure to meet our defense objectives will result
in decreasing U.S. global influence, eroding cohesion among allies and partners, and reduced access
to markets that will contribute to a decline in our prosperity and standard of living. Without sustained
and predictable investment to restore readiness and modernize our military to make it fit for our time,
we will rapidly lose our military advantage, resulting in a Joint Force that has legacy systems irrelevant
to the defense of our people.
NATIONAL DEFENSE STRATEGY
2
STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENT
The National Defense Strategy acknowledges an increasingly complex global security environment,
characterized by overt challenges to the free and open international order and the re-emergence of
long-term, strategic competition between nations. These changes require a clear-eyed appraisal of the
threats we face, acknowledgement of the changing character of warfare, and a transformation of how
the Department conducts business.
The central challenge to U.S. prosperity and security is the reemergence of long-term, strategic competition by
what the National Security Strategy classifies as revisionist powers. It is increasingly clear that China
and Russia want to shape a world consistent with their authoritarian model—gaining veto authority
over other nations’ economic, diplomatic, and security decisions.
China is leveraging military modernization, influence operations, and predatory economics to coerce
neighboring countries to reorder the Indo-Pacific region to their advantage. As China continues its
economic and military ascendance, asserting power through an all-of-nation long-term strategy, it will
continue to pursue a military modernization program that seeks Indo-Pacific regional hegemony in
the near-term and displacement of the United States to achieve global preeminence in the future. The
most far-reaching objective of this defense strategy is to set the military relationship between our two
countries on a path of transparency and non-aggression.
Concurrently, Russia seeks veto authority over nations on its periphery in terms of their governmental,
economic, and diplomatic decisions, to shatter the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and change
European and Middle East security and economic structures to its favor. The use of emerging
technologies to discredit and subvert democratic processes in Georgia, Crimea, and eastern Ukraine
is concern enough, but when coupled with its expanding and modernizing nuclear arsenal the
challenge is clear.
Another change to the strategic environment is a resilient, but weakening, post-WWII international order. In
the decades after fascism’s defeat in World War II, the United States and its allies and partners
constructed a free and open international order to better safeguard their liberty and people from
aggression and coercion. Although this system has evolved since the end of the Cold War, our network
of alliances and partnerships remain the backbone of global security. China and Russia are now
undermining the international order from within the system by exploiting its benefits while
simultaneously undercutting its principles and “rules of the road.”
Rogue regimes such as North Korea and Iran are destabilizing regions through their pursuit of nuclear
weapons or sponsorship of terrorism. North Korea seeks to guarantee regime survival and increased
leverage by seeking a mixture of nuclear, biological, chemical, conventional, and unconventional
weapons and a growing ballistic missile capability to gain coercive influence over South Korea, Japan,
and the United States. In the Middle East, Iran is competing with its neighbors, asserting an arc of
influence and instability while vying for regional hegemony, using state-sponsored terrorist activities,
a growing network of proxies, and its missile program to achieve its objectives.
Both revisionist powers and rogue regimes are competing across all dimensions of power. They have
increased efforts short of armed conflict by expanding coercion to new fronts, violating principles of
sovereignty, exploiting ambiguity, and deliberately blurring the lines between civil and military goals.
NATIONAL DEFENSE STRATEGY
2
STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENT
The National Defense Strategy acknowledges an increasingly complex global security environment,
characterized by overt challenges to the free and open international order and the re-emergence of
long-term, strategic competition between nations. These changes require a clear-eyed appraisal of the
threats we face, acknowledgement of the changing character of warfare, and a transformation of how
the Department conducts business.
The central challenge to U.S. prosperity and security is the reemergence of long-term, strategic competition by
what the National Security Strategy classifies as revisionist powers. It is increasingly clear that China
and Russia want to shape a world consistent with their authoritarian model—gaining veto authority
over other nations’ economic, diplomatic, and security decisions.
China is leveraging military modernization, influence operations, and predatory economics to coerce
neighboring countries to reorder the Indo-Pacific region to their advantage. As China continues its
economic and military ascendance, asserting power through an all-of-nation long-term strategy, it will
continue to pursue a military modernization program that seeks Indo-Pacific regional hegemony in
the near-term and displacement of the United States to achieve global preeminence in the future. The
most far-reaching objective of this defense strategy is to set the military relationship between our two
countries on a path of transparency and non-aggression.
Concurrently, Russia seeks veto authority over nations on its periphery in terms of their governmental,
economic, and diplomatic decisions, to shatter the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and change
European and Middle East security and economic structures to its favor. The use of emerging
technologies to discredit and subvert democratic processes in Georgia, Crimea, and eastern Ukraine
is concern enough, but when coupled with its expanding and modernizing nuclear arsenal the
challenge is clear.
Another change to the strategic environment is a resilient, but weakening, post-WWII international order. In
the decades after fascism’s defeat in World War II, the United States and its allies and partners
constructed a free and open international order to better safeguard their liberty and people from
aggression and coercion. Although this system has evolved since the end of the Cold War, our network
of alliances and partnerships remain the backbone of global security. China and Russia are now
undermining the international order from within the system by exploiting its benefits while
simultaneously undercutting its principles and “rules of the road.”
Rogue regimes such as North Korea and Iran are destabilizing regions through their pursuit of nuclear
weapons or sponsorship of terrorism. North Korea seeks to guarantee regime survival and increased
leverage by seeking a mixture of nuclear, biological, chemical, conventional, and unconventional
weapons and a growing ballistic missile capability to gain coercive influence over South Korea, Japan,
and the United States. In the Middle East, Iran is competing with its neighbors, asserting an arc of
influence and instability while vying for regional hegemony, using state-sponsored terrorist activities,
a growing network of proxies, and its missile program to achieve its objectives.
Both revisionist powers and rogue regimes are competing across all dimensions of power. They have
increased efforts short of armed conflict by expanding coercion to new fronts, violating principles of
sovereignty, exploiting ambiguity, and deliberately blurring the lines between civil and military goals.
NATIONAL DEFENSE STRATEGY
3
Challenges to the U.S. military advantage represent another shift in the global security environment. For
decades the United States has enjoyed uncontested or dominant superiority in every operating domain.
We could generally deploy our forces when we wanted, assemble them where we wanted, and operate
how we wanted. Today, every domain is contested—air, land, sea, space, and cyberspace.
We face an ever more lethal and disruptive battlefield, combined across domains, and conducted at
increasing speed and reach—from close combat, throughout overseas theaters, and reaching to our
homeland. Some competitors and adversaries seek to optimize their targeting of our battle networks
and operational concepts, while also using other areas of competition short of open warfare to achieve
their ends (e.g., information warfare, ambiguous or denied proxy operations, and subversion). These
trends, if unaddressed, will challenge our ability to deter aggression.
The security environment is also affected by rapid technological advancements and the changing character of war.
The drive to develop new technologies is relentless, expanding to more actors with lower barriers of
entry, and moving at accelerating speed. New technologies include advanced computing, “big data”
analytics, artificial intelligence, autonomy, robotics, directed energy, hypersonics, and biotechnology—
the very technologies that ensure we will be able to fight and win the wars of the future.
New commercial technology will change society and, ultimately, the character of war. The fact that
many technological developments will come from the commercial sector means that state
competitors and non-state actors will also have access to them, a fact that risks eroding the
conventional overmatch to which our Nation has grown accustomed. Maintaining the Department’s
technological advantage will require changes to industry culture, investment sources, and protection
across the National Security Innovation Base.
States are the principal actors on the global stage, but non-state actors also threaten the security
environment with increasingly sophisticated capabilities. Terrorists, trans-national criminal
organizations, cyber hackers and other malicious non-state actors have transformed global affairs with
increased capabilities of mass disruption. There is a positive side to this as well, as our partners in
sustaining security are also more than just nation-states: multilateral organizations, non-governmental
organizations, corporations, and strategic influencers provide opportunities for collaboration and
partnership. Terrorism remains a persistent condition driven by ideology and unstable political and
economic structures, despite the defeat of ISIS’s physical caliphate.
It is now undeniable that the homeland is no longer a sanctuary. America is a target, whether from
terrorists seeking to attack our citizens; malicious cyber activity against personal, commercial, or
government infrastructure; or political and information subversion. New threats to commercial and
military uses of space are emerging, while increasing digital connectivity of all aspects of life,
business, government, and military creates significant vulnerabilities. During conflict, attacks against
our critical defense, government, and economic infrastructure must be anticipated.
Rogue regimes, such as North Korea, continue to seek out or develop weapons of mass destruction (WMD)
– nuclear, chemical, and biological – as well as long range missile capabilities and, in some cases,
proliferate these capabilities to malign actors as demonstrated by Iranian ballistic missile exports.
Terrorists likewise continue to pursue WMD, while the spread of nuclear weapon technology and
advanced manufacturing technology remains a persistent problem. Recent advances in bioengineering
raise another concern, increasing the potential, variety, and ease of access to biological weapons.
NATIONAL DEFENSE STRATEGY
4
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE OBJECTIVES
In support of the National Security Strategy, the Department of Defense will be prepared to defend the
homeland, remain the preeminent military power in the world, ensure the balances of power remain
in our favor, and advance an international order that is most conducive to our security and prosperity.
Long-term strategic competitions with China and Russia are the principal priorities for the
Department, and require both increased and sustained investment, because of the magnitude of the
threats they pose to U.S. security and prosperity today, and the potential for those threats to increase
in the future. Concurrently, the Department will sustain its efforts to deter and counter rogue regimes
such as North Korea and Iran, defeat terrorist threats to the United States, and consolidate our gains
in Iraq and Afghanistan while moving to a more resource-sustainable approach.
Defense objectives include:
Defending the homeland from attack;
Sustaining Joint Force military advantages, both globally and in key regions;
Deterring adversaries from aggression against our vital interests;
Enabling U.S. interagency counterparts to advance U.S. influence and interests;
Maintaining favorable regional balances of power in the Indo-Pacific, Europe, the Middle
East, and the Western Hemisphere;
Defending allies from military aggression and bolstering partners against coercion, and fairly
sharing responsibilities for common defense;
Dissuading, preventing, or deterring state adversaries and non-state actors from acquiring,
proliferating, or using weapons of mass destruction;
Preventing terrorists from directing or supporting external operations against the United States
homeland and our citizens, allies, and partners overseas;
Ensuring common domains remain open and free;
Continuously delivering performance with affordability and speed as we change
Departmental mindset, culture, and management systems; and
Establishing an unmatched twenty-first century National Security Innovation Base that
effectively supports Department operations and sustains security and solvency.
STRATEGIC APPROACH
A long-term strategic competition requires the seamless integration of multiple elements of national
power—diplomacy, information, economics, finance, intelligence, law enforcement, and military.
More than any other nation, America can expand the competitive space, seizing the initiative to
challenge our competitors where we possess advantages and they lack strength. A more lethal force,
strong alliances and partnerships, American technological innovation, and a culture of performance
will generate decisive and sustained U.S. military advantages.
NATIONAL DEFENSE STRATEGY
4
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE OBJECTIVES
In support of the National Security Strategy, the Department of Defense will be prepared to defend the
homeland, remain the preeminent military power in the world, ensure the balances of power remain
in our favor, and advance an international order that is most conducive to our security and prosperity.
Long-term strategic competitions with China and Russia are the principal priorities for the
Department, and require both increased and sustained investment, because of the magnitude of the
threats they pose to U.S. security and prosperity today, and the potential for those threats to increase
in the future. Concurrently, the Department will sustain its efforts to deter and counter rogue regimes
such as North Korea and Iran, defeat terrorist threats to the United States, and consolidate our gains
in Iraq and Afghanistan while moving to a more resource-sustainable approach.
Defense objectives include:
Defending the homeland from attack;
Sustaining Joint Force military advantages, both globally and in key regions;
Deterring adversaries from aggression against our vital interests;
Enabling U.S. interagency counterparts to advance U.S. influence and interests;
Maintaining favorable regional balances of power in the Indo-Pacific, Europe, the Middle
East, and the Western Hemisphere;
Defending allies from military aggression and bolstering partners against coercion, and fairly
sharing responsibilities for common defense;
Dissuading, preventing, or deterring state adversaries and non-state actors from acquiring,
proliferating, or using weapons of mass destruction;
Preventing terrorists from directing or supporting external operations against the United States
homeland and our citizens, allies, and partners overseas;
Ensuring common domains remain open and free;
Continuously delivering performance with affordability and speed as we change
Departmental mindset, culture, and management systems; and
Establishing an unmatched twenty-first century National Security Innovation Base that
effectively supports Department operations and sustains security and solvency.
STRATEGIC APPROACH
A long-term strategic competition requires the seamless integration of multiple elements of national
power—diplomacy, information, economics, finance, intelligence, law enforcement, and military.
More than any other nation, America can expand the competitive space, seizing the initiative to
challenge our competitors where we possess advantages and they lack strength. A more lethal force,
strong alliances and partnerships, American technological innovation, and a culture of performance
will generate decisive and sustained U.S. military advantages.
NATIONAL DEFENSE STRATEGY
5
As we expand the competitive space, we continue to offer competitors and adversaries an outstretched
hand, open to opportunities for cooperation but from a position of strength and based on our national
interests. Should cooperation fail, we will be ready to defend the American people, our values, and
interests. The willingness of rivals to abandon aggression will depend on their perception of U.S.
strength and the vitality of our alliances and partnerships.
Be strategically predictable, but operationally unpredictable. Deterring or defeating long-term strategic
competitors is a fundamentally different challenge than the regional adversaries that were the focus of
previous strategies. Our strength and integrated actions with allies will demonstrate our commitment
to deterring aggression, but our dynamic force employment, military posture, and operations must
introduce unpredictability to adversary decision-makers. With our allies and partners, we will challenge
competitors by maneuvering them into unfavorable positions, frustrating their efforts, precluding their
options while expanding our own, and forcing them to confront conflict under adverse conditions.
Integrate with U.S. interagency. Effectively expanding the competitive space requires combined actions
with the U.S. interagency to employ all dimensions of national power. We will assist the efforts of the
Departments of State, Treasury, Justice, Energy, Homeland Security, Commerce, USAID, as well as
the Intelligence Community, law enforcement, and others to identify and build partnerships to address
areas of economic, technological, and informational vulnerabilities.
Counter coercion and subversion. In competition short of armed conflict, revisionist powers and rogue
regimes are using corruption, predatory economic practices, propaganda, political subversion, proxies,
and the threat or use of military force to change facts on the ground. Some are particularly adept at
exploiting their economic relationships with many of our security partners. We will support U.S.
interagency approaches and work by, with, and through our allies and partners to secure our interests
and counteract this coercion.
Foster a competitive mindset. To succeed in the emerging security environment, our Department and Joint
Force will have to out-think, out-maneuver, out-partner, and out-innovate revisionist powers, rogue
regimes, terrorists, and other threat actors.
We will expand the competitive space while pursuing three distinct lines of effort:
First, rebuilding military readiness as we build a more lethal Joint Force;
Second, strengthening alliances as we attract new partners; and
Third, reforming the Department’s business practices for greater performance
and affordability.
Build a More Lethal Force
The surest way to prevent war is to be prepared to win one. Doing so requires a competitive approach
to force development and a consistent, multiyear investment to restore warfighting readiness and
field a lethal force. The size of our force matters. The Nation must field sufficient, capable forces to
defeat enemies and achieve sustainable outcomes that protect the American people and our vital
interests. Our aim is a Joint Force that possesses decisive advantages for any likely conflict, while
remaining proficient across the entire spectrum of conflict.
NATIONAL DEFENSE STRATEGY
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Prioritize preparedness for war. Achieving peace through strength requires the Joint Force to deter conflict
through preparedness for war. During normal day-to-day operations, the Joint Force will sustainably
compete to: deter aggression in three key regions—the Indo-Pacific, Europe, and Middle East;
degrade terrorist and WMD threats; and defend U.S. interests from challenges below the level of
armed conflict. In wartime, the fully mobilized Joint Force will be capable of: defeating aggression by
a major power; deterring opportunistic aggression elsewhere; and disrupting imminent terrorist and
WMD threats. During peace or in war, the Joint Force will deter nuclear and non-nuclear strategic
attacks and defend the homeland. To support these missions, the Joint Force must gain and maintain
information superiority; and develop, strengthen, and sustain U.S. security relationships.
Modernize key capabilities. We cannot expect success fighting tomorrow’s conflicts with yesterday’s
weapons or equipment. To address the scope and pace of our competitors’ and adversaries’ ambitions
and capabilities, we must invest in modernization of key capabilities through sustained, predictable
budgets. Our backlog of deferred readiness, procurement, and modernization requirements has grown
in the last decade and a half and can no longer be ignored. We will make targeted, disciplined increases
in personnel and platforms to meet key capability and capacity needs. The 2018 National Defense Strategy
underpins our planned fiscal year 2019-2023 budgets, accelerating our modernization programs and
devoting additional resources in a sustained effort to solidify our competitive advantage.
Nuclear forces. The Department will modernize the nuclear triad—including nuclear command,
control, and communications, and supporting infrastructure. Modernization of the nuclear
force includes developing options to counter competitors’ coercive strategies, predicated on
the threatened use of nuclear or strategic non-nuclear attacks.
Space and cyberspace as warfighting domains. The Department will prioritize investments in
resilience, reconstitution, and operations to assure our space capabilities. We will also invest
in cyber defense, resilience, and the continued integration of cyber capabilities into the full
spectrum of military operations.
Command, control, communications, computers and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR).
Investments will prioritize developing resilient, survivable, federated networks and
information ecosystems from the tactical level up to strategic planning. Investments will also
prioritize capabilities to gain and exploit information, deny competitors those same
advantages, and enable us to provide attribution while defending against and holding
accountable state or non-state actors during cyberattacks.
Missile defense. Investments will focus on layered missile defenses and disruptive capabilities for
both theater missile threats and North Korean ballistic missile threats.
Joint lethality in contested environments. The Joint Force must be able to strike diverse targets inside
adversary air and missile defense networks to destroy mobile power-projection platforms. This
will include capabilities to enhance close combat lethality in complex terrain.
Forward force maneuver and posture resilience. Investments will prioritize ground, air, sea, and space
forces that can deploy, survive, operate, maneuver, and regenerate in all domains while under
attack. Transitioning from large, centralized, unhardened infrastructure to smaller, dispersed,
resilient, adaptive basing that include active and passive defenses will also be prioritized.
NATIONAL DEFENSE STRATEGY
6
Prioritize preparedness for war. Achieving peace through strength requires the Joint Force to deter conflict
through preparedness for war. During normal day-to-day operations, the Joint Force will sustainably
compete to: deter aggression in three key regions—the Indo-Pacific, Europe, and Middle East;
degrade terrorist and WMD threats; and defend U.S. interests from challenges below the level of
armed conflict. In wartime, the fully mobilized Joint Force will be capable of: defeating aggression by
a major power; deterring opportunistic aggression elsewhere; and disrupting imminent terrorist and
WMD threats. During peace or in war, the Joint Force will deter nuclear and non-nuclear strategic
attacks and defend the homeland. To support these missions, the Joint Force must gain and maintain
information superiority; and develop, strengthen, and sustain U.S. security relationships.
Modernize key capabilities. We cannot expect success fighting tomorrow’s conflicts with yesterday’s
weapons or equipment. To address the scope and pace of our competitors’ and adversaries’ ambitions
and capabilities, we must invest in modernization of key capabilities through sustained, predictable
budgets. Our backlog of deferred readiness, procurement, and modernization requirements has grown
in the last decade and a half and can no longer be ignored. We will make targeted, disciplined increases
in personnel and platforms to meet key capability and capacity needs. The 2018 National Defense Strategy
underpins our planned fiscal year 2019-2023 budgets, accelerating our modernization programs and
devoting additional resources in a sustained effort to solidify our competitive advantage.
Nuclear forces. The Department will modernize the nuclear triad—including nuclear command,
control, and communications, and supporting infrastructure. Modernization of the nuclear
force includes developing options to counter competitors’ coercive strategies, predicated on
the threatened use of nuclear or strategic non-nuclear attacks.
Space and cyberspace as warfighting domains. The Department will prioritize investments in
resilience, reconstitution, and operations to assure our space capabilities. We will also invest
in cyber defense, resilience, and the continued integration of cyber capabilities into the full
spectrum of military operations.
Command, control, communications, computers and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR).
Investments will prioritize developing resilient, survivable, federated networks and
information ecosystems from the tactical level up to strategic planning. Investments will also
prioritize capabilities to gain and exploit information, deny competitors those same
advantages, and enable us to provide attribution while defending against and holding
accountable state or non-state actors during cyberattacks.
Missile defense. Investments will focus on layered missile defenses and disruptive capabilities for
both theater missile threats and North Korean ballistic missile threats.
Joint lethality in contested environments. The Joint Force must be able to strike diverse targets inside
adversary air and missile defense networks to destroy mobile power-projection platforms. This
will include capabilities to enhance close combat lethality in complex terrain.
Forward force maneuver and posture resilience. Investments will prioritize ground, air, sea, and space
forces that can deploy, survive, operate, maneuver, and regenerate in all domains while under
attack. Transitioning from large, centralized, unhardened infrastructure to smaller, dispersed,
resilient, adaptive basing that include active and passive defenses will also be prioritized.
NATIONAL DEFENSE STRATEGY
7
Advanced autonomous systems. The Department will invest broadly in military application of
autonomy, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, including rapid application of
commercial breakthroughs, to gain competitive military advantages.
Resilient and agile logistics. Investments will prioritize prepositioned forward stocks and
munitions, strategic mobility assets, partner and allied support, as well as non-commercially
dependent distributed logistics and maintenance to ensure logistics sustainment while under
persistent multi-domain attack.
Evolve innovative operational concepts. Modernization is not defined solely by hardware; it requires change
in the ways we organize and employ forces. We must anticipate the implications of new technologies
on the battlefield, rigorously define the military problems anticipated in future conflict, and foster a
culture of experimentation and calculated risk-taking. We must anticipate how competitors and
adversaries will employ new operational concepts and technologies to attempt to defeat us, while
developing operational concepts to sharpen our competitive advantages and enhance our lethality.
Develop a lethal, agile, and resilient force posture and employment. Force posture and employment must be
adaptable to account for the uncertainty that exists in the changing global strategic environment. Much
of our force employment models and posture date to the immediate post-Cold War era, when our
military advantage was unchallenged and the primary threats were rogue regimes.
Dynamic Force Employment. Dynamic Force Employment will prioritize maintaining the capacity
and capabilities for major combat, while providing options for proactive and scalable
employment of the Joint Force. A modernized Global Operating Model of combat-credible,
flexible theater postures will enhance our ability to compete and provide freedom of maneuver
during conflict, providing national decision-makers with better military options.
The global strategic environment demands increased strategic flexibility and freedom of
action. The Dynamic Force Employment concept will change the way the Department uses
the Joint Force to provide proactive and scalable options for priority missions. Dynamic Force
Employment will more flexibly use ready forces to shape proactively the strategic environment
while maintaining readiness to respond to contingencies and ensure long-term warfighting
readiness.
Global Operating Model. The Global Operating Model describes how the Joint Force will be
postured and employed to achieve its competition and wartime missions. Foundational
capabilities include: nuclear; cyber; space; C4ISR; strategic mobility, and counter WMD
proliferation. It comprises four layers: contact, blunt, surge, and homeland. These are,
respectively, designed to help us compete more effectively below the level of armed conflict;
delay, degrade, or deny adversary aggression; surge war-winning forces and manage conflict
escalation; and defend the U.S. homeland.
Cultivate workforce talent. Recruiting, developing, and retaining a high-quality military and civilian
workforce is essential for warfighting success. Cultivating a lethal, agile force requires more than just
new technologies and posture changes; it depends on the ability of our warfighters and the
Department workforce to integrate new capabilities, adapt warfighting approaches, and change
NATIONAL DEFENSE STRATEGY
8
business practices to achieve mission success. The creativity and talent of the American warfighter is
our greatest enduring strength, and one we do not take for granted.
Professional Military Education (PME). PME has stagnated, focused more on the accomplishment
of mandatory credit at the expense of lethality and ingenuity. We will emphasize intellectual
leadership and military professionalism in the art and science of warfighting, deepening our
knowledge of history while embracing new technology and techniques to counter competitors.
PME will emphasize independence of action in warfighting concepts to lessen the impact of
degraded/lost communications in combat. PME is to be used as a strategic asset to build trust
and interoperability across the Joint Forces and with allied and partner forces.
Talent management. Developing leaders who are competent in national-level decision-making
requires broad revision of talent management among the Armed Services, including
fellowships, civilian education, and assignments that increase understanding of interagency
decision-making processes, as well as alliances and coalitions.
Civilian workforce expertise. A modern, agile, information-advantaged Department requires a
motivated, diverse, and highly skilled civilian workforce. We will emphasize new skills and
complement our current workforce with information experts, data scientists, computer
programmers, and basic science researchers and engineers—to use information, not simply
manage it. The Department will also continue to explore streamlined, non-traditional pathways
to bring critical skills into service, expanding access to outside expertise, and devising new
public-private partnerships to work with small companies, start-ups, and universities.
Strengthen Alliances and Attract New Partners
Mutually beneficial alliances and partnerships are crucial to our strategy, providing a durable,
asymmetric strategic advantage that no competitor or rival can match. This approach has served the
United States well, in peace and war, for the past 75 years. Our allies and partners came to our aid
after the terrorist attacks on 9/11, and have contributed to every major U.S.-led military engagement
since. Every day, our allies and partners join us in defending freedom, deterring war, and maintaining
the rules which underwrite a free and open international order.
By working together with allies and partners we amass the greatest possible strength for the long-term
advancement of our interests, maintaining favorable balances of power that deter aggression and
support the stability that generates economic growth. When we pool resources and share responsibility
for our common defense, our security burden becomes lighter. Our allies and partners provide
complementary capabilities and forces along with unique perspectives, regional relationships, and
information that improve our understanding of the environment and expand our options. Allies and
partners also provide access to critical regions, supporting a widespread basing and logistics system
that underpins the Department’s global reach.
We will strengthen and evolve our alliances and partnerships into an extended network capable of
deterring or decisively acting to meet the shared challenges of our time. We will focus on three
elements for achieving a capable alliance and partnership network:
NATIONAL DEFENSE STRATEGY
8
business practices to achieve mission success. The creativity and talent of the American warfighter is
our greatest enduring strength, and one we do not take for granted.
Professional Military Education (PME). PME has stagnated, focused more on the accomplishment
of mandatory credit at the expense of lethality and ingenuity. We will emphasize intellectual
leadership and military professionalism in the art and science of warfighting, deepening our
knowledge of history while embracing new technology and techniques to counter competitors.
PME will emphasize independence of action in warfighting concepts to lessen the impact of
degraded/lost communications in combat. PME is to be used as a strategic asset to build trust
and interoperability across the Joint Forces and with allied and partner forces.
Talent management. Developing leaders who are competent in national-level decision-making
requires broad revision of talent management among the Armed Services, including
fellowships, civilian education, and assignments that increase understanding of interagency
decision-making processes, as well as alliances and coalitions.
Civilian workforce expertise. A modern, agile, information-advantaged Department requires a
motivated, diverse, and highly skilled civilian workforce. We will emphasize new skills and
complement our current workforce with information experts, data scientists, computer
programmers, and basic science researchers and engineers—to use information, not simply
manage it. The Department will also continue to explore streamlined, non-traditional pathways
to bring critical skills into service, expanding access to outside expertise, and devising new
public-private partnerships to work with small companies, start-ups, and universities.
Strengthen Alliances and Attract New Partners
Mutually beneficial alliances and partnerships are crucial to our strategy, providing a durable,
asymmetric strategic advantage that no competitor or rival can match. This approach has served the
United States well, in peace and war, for the past 75 years. Our allies and partners came to our aid
after the terrorist attacks on 9/11, and have contributed to every major U.S.-led military engagement
since. Every day, our allies and partners join us in defending freedom, deterring war, and maintaining
the rules which underwrite a free and open international order.
By working together with allies and partners we amass the greatest possible strength for the long-term
advancement of our interests, maintaining favorable balances of power that deter aggression and
support the stability that generates economic growth. When we pool resources and share responsibility
for our common defense, our security burden becomes lighter. Our allies and partners provide
complementary capabilities and forces along with unique perspectives, regional relationships, and
information that improve our understanding of the environment and expand our options. Allies and
partners also provide access to critical regions, supporting a widespread basing and logistics system
that underpins the Department’s global reach.
We will strengthen and evolve our alliances and partnerships into an extended network capable of
deterring or decisively acting to meet the shared challenges of our time. We will focus on three
elements for achieving a capable alliance and partnership network:
NATIONAL DEFENSE STRATEGY
9
Uphold a foundation of mutual respect, responsibility, priorities, and accountability. Our alliances and
coalitions are built on free will and shared responsibilities. While we will unapologetically represent
America’s values and belief in democracy, we will not seek to impose our way of life by force. We
will uphold our commitments and we expect allies and partners to contribute an equitable share
to our mutually beneficial collective security, including effective investment in modernizing their
defense capabilities. We have shared responsibilities for resisting authoritarian trends, contesting
radical ideologies, and serving as bulwarks against instability.
Expand regional consultative mechanisms and collaborative planning. We will develop new partnerships
around shared interests to reinforce regional coalitions and security cooperation. We will provide
allies and partners with a clear and consistent message to encourage alliance and coalition
commitment, greater defense cooperation, and military investment.
Deepen interoperability. Each ally and partner is unique. Combined forces able to act together
coherently and effectively to achieve military objectives requires interoperability. Interoperability
is a priority for operational concepts, modular force elements, communications, information
sharing, and equipment. In consultation with Congress and the Department of State, the
Department of Defense will prioritize requests for U.S. military equipment sales, accelerating
foreign partner modernization and ability to integrate with U.S. forces. We will train to high-end
combat missions in our alliance, bilateral, and multinational exercises.
Enduring coalitions and long-term security partnerships, underpinned by our bedrock alliances and
reinforced by our allies’ own webs of security relationships, remain a priority:
Expand Indo-Pacific alliances and partnerships. A free and open Indo-Pacific region provides prosperity
and security for all. We will strengthen our alliances and partnerships in the Indo-Pacific to a
networked security architecture capable of deterring aggression, maintaining stability, and ensuring
free access to common domains. With key countries in the region, we will bring together bilateral
and multilateral security relationships to preserve the free and open international system.
Fortify the Trans-Atlantic NATO Alliance. A strong and free Europe, bound by shared principles of
democracy, national sovereignty, and commitment to Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty is vital
to our security. The alliance will deter Russian adventurism, defeat terrorists who seek to murder
innocents, and address the arc of instability building on NATO’s periphery. At the same time,
NATO must adapt to remain relevant and fit for our time—in purpose, capability, and responsive
decision-making. We expect European allies to fulfill their commitments to increase defense and
modernization spending to bolster the alliance in the face of our shared security concerns.
Form enduring coalitions in the Middle East. We will foster a stable and secure Middle East that denies
safe havens for terrorists, is not dominated by any power hostile to the United States, and that
contributes to stable global energy markets and secure trade routes. We will develop enduring
coalitions to consolidate gains we have made in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and elsewhere, to support
the lasting defeat of terrorists as we sever their sources of strength and counterbalance Iran.
Sustain advantages in the Western Hemisphere. The U.S. derives immense benefit from a stable, peaceful
hemisphere that reduces security threats to the homeland. Supporting the U.S. interagency lead,
NATIONAL DEFENSE STRATEGY
10
the Department will deepen its relations with regional countries that contribute military capabilities
to shared regional and global security challenges.
Support relationships to address significant terrorist threats in Africa. We will bolster existing bilateral and
multilateral partnerships and develop new relationships to address significant terrorist threats that
threaten U.S. interests and contribute to challenges in Europe and the Middle East. We will focus
on working by, with, and through local partners and the European Union to degrade terrorists;
build the capability required to counter violent extremism, human trafficking, trans-national
criminal activity, and illegal arms trade with limited outside assistance; and limit the malign
influence of non-African powers.
Reform the Department for Greater Performance and Affordability
The current bureaucratic approach, centered on exacting thoroughness and minimizing risk above all
else, is proving to be increasingly unresponsive. We must transition to a culture of performance where
results and accountability matter. We will put in place a management system where leadership can
harness opportunities and ensure effective stewardship of taxpayer resources. We have a responsibility
to gain full value from every taxpayer dollar spent on defense, thereby earning the trust of Congress
and the American people.
Deliver performance at the speed of relevance. Success no longer goes to the country that develops a new
technology first, but rather to the one that better integrates it and adapts its way of fighting. Current
processes are not responsive to need; the Department is over-optimized for exceptional performance
at the expense of providing timely decisions, policies, and capabilities to the warfighter. Our response
will be to prioritize speed of delivery, continuous adaptation, and frequent modular upgrades. We
must not accept cumbersome approval chains, wasteful applications of resources in uncompetitive
space, or overly risk-averse thinking that impedes change. Delivering performance means we will shed
outdated management practices and structures while integrating insights from business innovation.
Organize for innovation. The Department’s management structure and processes are not written in stone,
they are a means to an end–empowering the warfighter with the knowledge, equipment and support
systems to fight and win. Department leaders will adapt their organizational structures to best support
the Joint Force. If current structures hinder substantial increases in lethality or performance, it is
expected that Service Secretaries and Agency heads will consolidate, eliminate, or restructure as
needed. The Department’s leadership is committed to changes in authorities, granting of waivers, and
securing external support for streamlining processes and organizations.
Drive budget discipline and affordability to achieve solvency. Better management begins with effective financial
stewardship. The Department will continue its plan to achieve full auditability of all its operations,
improving its financial processes, systems, and tools to understand, manage, and improve cost. We
will continue to leverage the scale of our operations to drive greater efficiency in procurement of
materiel and services while pursuing opportunities to consolidate and streamline contracts in areas
such as logistics, information technology, and support services. We will also continue efforts to reduce
management overhead and the size of headquarters staff. We will reduce or eliminate duplicative
organizations and systems for managing human resources, finance, health services, travel, and
supplies. The Department will also work to reduce excess property and infrastructure, providing
Congress with options for a Base Realignment and Closure.
NATIONAL DEFENSE STRATEGY
10
the Department will deepen its relations with regional countries that contribute military capabilities
to shared regional and global security challenges.
Support relationships to address significant terrorist threats in Africa. We will bolster existing bilateral and
multilateral partnerships and develop new relationships to address significant terrorist threats that
threaten U.S. interests and contribute to challenges in Europe and the Middle East. We will focus
on working by, with, and through local partners and the European Union to degrade terrorists;
build the capability required to counter violent extremism, human trafficking, trans-national
criminal activity, and illegal arms trade with limited outside assistance; and limit the malign
influence of non-African powers.
Reform the Department for Greater Performance and Affordability
The current bureaucratic approach, centered on exacting thoroughness and minimizing risk above all
else, is proving to be increasingly unresponsive. We must transition to a culture of performance where
results and accountability matter. We will put in place a management system where leadership can
harness opportunities and ensure effective stewardship of taxpayer resources. We have a responsibility
to gain full value from every taxpayer dollar spent on defense, thereby earning the trust of Congress
and the American people.
Deliver performance at the speed of relevance. Success no longer goes to the country that develops a new
technology first, but rather to the one that better integrates it and adapts its way of fighting. Current
processes are not responsive to need; the Department is over-optimized for exceptional performance
at the expense of providing timely decisions, policies, and capabilities to the warfighter. Our response
will be to prioritize speed of delivery, continuous adaptation, and frequent modular upgrades. We
must not accept cumbersome approval chains, wasteful applications of resources in uncompetitive
space, or overly risk-averse thinking that impedes change. Delivering performance means we will shed
outdated management practices and structures while integrating insights from business innovation.
Organize for innovation. The Department’s management structure and processes are not written in stone,
they are a means to an end–empowering the warfighter with the knowledge, equipment and support
systems to fight and win. Department leaders will adapt their organizational structures to best support
the Joint Force. If current structures hinder substantial increases in lethality or performance, it is
expected that Service Secretaries and Agency heads will consolidate, eliminate, or restructure as
needed. The Department’s leadership is committed to changes in authorities, granting of waivers, and
securing external support for streamlining processes and organizations.
Drive budget discipline and affordability to achieve solvency. Better management begins with effective financial
stewardship. The Department will continue its plan to achieve full auditability of all its operations,
improving its financial processes, systems, and tools to understand, manage, and improve cost. We
will continue to leverage the scale of our operations to drive greater efficiency in procurement of
materiel and services while pursuing opportunities to consolidate and streamline contracts in areas
such as logistics, information technology, and support services. We will also continue efforts to reduce
management overhead and the size of headquarters staff. We will reduce or eliminate duplicative
organizations and systems for managing human resources, finance, health services, travel, and
supplies. The Department will also work to reduce excess property and infrastructure, providing
Congress with options for a Base Realignment and Closure.
