An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir July / August 2024 www.military.ie/magazine 20 | www.military AFD – ARMY FORCE DESIGN The establishment of an Army Force Design office was a recommendation of the Commission on the Defence Forces, can you outline to our readers when the office was set up and who are the staff currently employed therein? The selection process for the Army Force Design Office took place in the latter part of 2023, with the final member of the team on-boarding in January 2024, when the office reached Initial Operating Capability (IOC). The office currently consists of six personnel – three officers and three NCOs drawn from across the Army. We range in ranks from OR-6 to OF-5, and each member has considerable domestic and overseas experience. While the team is very small in the context of the body of work being undertaken, it is highly motivated and heavily invested in delivering for the Army. The Army Force Design process sits in the Strategic Objective that focuses on "Services to be reformed and restructured." How large a challenge does this reform present and what are the steps taken to date be it consultancy, research, design, analysis etc The task of re-designing the Army is a challenging one, and must be viewed from a number of perspectives. Firstly, if we look at what the CODF report found with regard to the Army, it noted that the current structure was implemented "without an extensive Force Design and analysis process" and recommended that the Army "would undergo a higher level of structural transformation than the other two services." There are a number of legacy issues which need to be addressed in terms of capacity and combat capability so that we can effectively generate the Force Elements at Readiness that we need to perform all tasks assigned by government, both domestically and internationally. Furthermore, when we look at the evolving geopolitical and security environment, and in particular the impact of Emerging and Disruptive Technologies on operations in the land domain, we see a developing picture of complexity, volatility and challenge. The battlespace is expanding as weapon systems develop increasing range, precision and lethality; while unmanned and autonomous systems are creating a more transparent operating environment. All of this presents a considerable challenge in the context of designing an Army that will thrive in the future operating environment. It also represents a great opportunity however, and while orchestrating the many projects underway in the context of the Detailed Implementation Plan (DIP) is very challenging for everyone, there is great unity of effort in striving to meet our end-state, which is "a more agile and flexible Army Force Structure, which is regionally balanced, modern, postured to defend the State and can meet current and future operational tasks." Is there a logical journey map or project management process followed and did you engage external/foreign militaries for comparison who have undertaken such reform? Unlike other militaries who have dedicated long-term defence planners, the Army has no such dedicated function – hence the establishment of the Army Force Design Office. While the staff are exceptional professionals, Force Design is not something we have experience in, nor do we have any Irish doctrine underpinning the discipline. Consequently, a number of actions were taken to build up our knowledge base; they include the commissioning of research into Force Design methodology, carried out by Brig Gen (Retd) Dave Dignam; extensive engagement with other countries, including visits to Norway and US Army Europe; meetings with the New Zealand Defence Forces, and VTCs and other exchanges with a wide range of international militaries and institutions, including NATO. While countries tend to approach Force Design differently, there are a number of common threads which have informed our thinking and our Force Design process. We have completed a number of steps, which we are now validating in the context of the recently-published Defence Policy Review. These include an analysis of the security environment and its implications for Force Design; an analysis of defence policy in the context of the roles of the Army; a mission analysis of our primary roles and an extensive stakeholder engagement process which has seen us engage directly with all Formations, Corps Directors and special staff. Once this phase of the work is completed, we will move into scenario based planning and experimentation, which will allow us to identify in more detail the gaps in our structures and capabilities when measured against the tasks that fall out of the roles assigned by government. This will then allow us to examine candidate structures to fill the identified gaps. INTERVIEW WITH COL NEIL NOLAN INTERVIEW BY SGT RENA KENNEDY

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