Description Of The National Military Strategy 2018—the Joint

Description Of Thenationalmilitary Strategy2018the Joint Staff

Describe the National Military Strategy 2018. The strategy provides a framework for the Joint Force to protect and advance U.S. national interests, aligning with broader national security and defense policies. It reflects a comprehensive review by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and combatant commanders, building upon documents such as the 2017 National Security Strategy, the 2018 National Defense Strategy, and the Defense Planning Guidance. The strategy offers military advice on implementing defense objectives and adapting to emerging threats through force employment, development, and design, emphasizing global integration, joint capabilities across domains, and the importance of allies and partners.

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The 2018 National Military Strategy (NMS) serves as a pivotal blueprint for the United States' military posture and strategic direction amidst a complex global security environment. Rooted in an extensive review by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and integrating insights from key strategic documents like the 2017 National Security Strategy and the 2018 National Defense Strategy (NDS), the NMS underscores the importance of a dynamic, adaptive, and innovative Joint Force capable of addressing current and future threats. It emphasizes an integrated approach across all domains—land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace—acknowledging the evolving nature of warfare driven by technological advancements and new forms of conflict.

The core premise of the 2018 NMS is to ensure the Joint Force remains capable of defending the homeland and projecting power globally. This involves a strategic evolution from a predominantly regional focus toward a more comprehensive global perspective, recognizing that adversaries such as China and Russia pose significant challenges through renewed great power competition. The strategy highlights the necessity of joint combined arms, where seamless integration of capabilities across domains enables the U.S. military to operate effectively in contested environments. This approach is especially vital given the decline of uncontested operating areas and the increased prevalence of contested domains.

Furthermore, the NMS recognizes the strategic importance of interoperability and alliances, stressing that a resilient and agile force must foster strong partnerships. Through joint exercises, interoperability initiatives, and technology experimentation, the U.S. aims to enhance its collective combat lethality and survivability, thereby enabling forces to operate "above their weight" in multilateral coalitions. These efforts are crucial for maintaining a strategic advantage in an era where threats from state and non-state actors continue to evolve and proliferate.

Force employment in the NMS is guided by the defense objectives outlined in the NDS, focusing on five principal mission areas: responding to threats, deterring strategic and conventional attacks, assuring allies and partners, and competing below the level of armed conflict. Dynamic Force Employment (DFE) is a key concept, emphasizing proactive, flexible force management to balance readiness, modernize capabilities, and exploit strategic opportunities. DFE enables the Joint Force to adapt swiftly to emerging crises while maintaining a state of preparedness for large-scale conflict, ensuring operational agility across geographical and thematic boundaries.

Recognizing that future warfare is shaped by technological transformation, the NMS emphasizes force development and force design as vital elements of adaptation and innovation. Force development involves refining existing processes—improving planning, decisionmaking, and force management—to better address evolving challenges. Force design, on the other hand, aims to fundamentally restructure military capabilities through disruptive innovations, ensuring that the U.S. military can deter or defeat future adversaries effectively.

Integral to these efforts is the development of the Capstone Concept for Joint Operations (CCJO), which envisions a joint force capable of "out-thinking, out-maneuvering, and out-fighting" adversaries under conditions of disruptive change. The CCJO advocates for a capability-driven, threat-informed approach that unifies service capabilities across materiel and non-materiel solutions, emphasizing continuous adaptation and resilience. This vision aligns with the NDS’s focus on investing in lethality, operational reach, and capabilities that enable effective competition at all levels of conflict.

The strategy also accentuates the importance of building partnerships, both domestically and internationally, as a strategic force multiplier. Exercises targeting interoperability and collaboration bolster mutual trust and enable rapid experimentation with new technologies and tactics. Such engagements are vital for expanding the joint force's operational envelope and for maintaining strategic advantages in theaters of emerging competition.

In conclusion, the 2018 NMS charts a comprehensive path for the U.S. military to compete and prevail in an increasingly contested global security environment. Its emphasis on adaptability, joint integration, technological innovation, and partnerships prepares the Joint Force to meet the challenges posed by state rivals, terrorists, and other threats—ensuring that the U.S. retains its strategic edge and continues to secure national interests both at home and abroad.

References

• Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. (2018). National Military Strategy of the United States 2018. Department of Defense.
• United States Department of Defense. (2018). Summary of the 2018 National Defense Strategy. Department of Defense.
• Office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. (2018). The Joint Staff: National Military Strategy Overview. Department of Defense.
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