Joint Vision 2010

In response to the changing strategic environment and the declining budgets, the Joint Chiefs of Staff have created a vision to help guide the Department of Defense (DOD) through a transformation that will enable it to meet the challenges it will face in the 21st Century. Now that the Joint Chiefs have articulated this vision, the next and most difficult step is implementing it. This paper explores two fundamental questions. What steps has DOD taken to implement Joint Vision 2010 (JV2010) and are these steps adequate? The DOD has taken significant steps to implement the vision. The DOD has further refined the JV2010 concepts in several key documents. They have also identified a management structure responsible for implementation and a framework for the implementation process. The key question concerning JV2010 is whether or not the implementation process is adequate. Is it capable of performing tough trade-offs and focusing our resources on the right mix of information technologies and traditional capabilities? This paper explores this question by using the systems engineering model to analyze the JV2010 implementation efforts. The analysis concluded the implementation process has many positive aspects. However, if optimal system development is to be achieved the process must take on more of a top down approach capable of evaluating competing alternatives and properly focusing investments on the right technologies and weapon systems required to achieve JV2010 capabilities.