Including a Critical Path Method of Project Management to Assist the Planning and Tracking of Stability Operations

In order to facilitate U. S. national security strategy, the U. S. Military has a renewed focus on conducting Stability Operations. These complex operations often take place over long periods and involve various different, but interrelated tasks. Current methods of planning require subjective analysis and previous experiences to determine prioritization when allocating limited resources. Successfully used in civilian industry as a way to plan and execute complex projects, the critical path method might apply to stability operations. The research attempted to determine if applying the critical path method would assist in developing and conducting stability operations. The research includes a review of literature outlining current national strategic requirements for conducting stability operations, followed by a description of current planning methods and a systematic method to apply critical path method to stability operations. After conducting an analytical wargame on three conditions of a case study using the War in Iraq, the conclusion was that combining doctrinal, traditional lines of effort with the application of the critical path method can assist future stability operations.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.

This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.

As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.