The operational challenges DoD must confront, in the face of an ever-changing operating environment and changing character of war, require us to develop compelling and relevant concepts that link U.S. strategic objectives, policies, and capabilities. As adversaries develop capabilities to contest the United States in traditional warfighting domains, U.S. advantages will increasingly require building strengths in areas traditionally seen as supporting efforts, as well as in those areas where responsibility falls between existing organizations. Examples include, but are not limited to, digital modernization, autonomy, contested logistics, communications, electronic warfare, and integrated air and missile defense.
ARC submissions should develop a new concept that addresses one or more of the operational challenges we face and discuss needed supporting capabilities. Submissions may also consider the barriers to developing and implementing new concepts and how senior leaders can overcome them. Key questions include: What concepts and supporting capabilities are needed to fill gaps? What barriers currently stand in the way of these potential solutions being fully examined, and what levers are available to senior leaders to support change in this space? How can we improve concept development, experimentation, training, and other enablers to ensure the Joint Force can execute with new technologies?
- Acres, Maj. Bryce D., "'Strategic Narratives for Sentinel:' How Minutemen and Peacekeeper Narratives Can Influence Force Design," SAASS thesis, 2024, 87 pgs.
- Acuna, Maj. Fernando Suito, "The Missing Link: A Path Forward for Integrating Remotely Piloted Aircraft within Joint All-Domain Operations," AFGC thesis, 2025, 43 pgs.
- Acuna points to institutional inertia and a stagnant acquisition culture as the primary barriers preventing RPAs from adapting to JADO. Because the Air Force traditionally prioritizes long-cycle, multi-billion-dollar manned aircraft acquisitions, iterative upgrades to unmanned systems have been delayed or deprioritized. To overcome these barriers, he recommends reforming acquisition timelines to support rapid, incremental modernization, and explicitly establishing Group V RPA representation in Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) design and planning billets so that unmanned operational experience directly informs future joint force design.
- Anderson IV, Maj. Raymond A., Protecting the Human Link: Joint Terminal Attack Controller Survivability in the Age of Unmanned Systems and Advanced Air Defenses," AFGC thesis, 2026, 50 pgs.
- Anderson identifies a critical capability and training gap created by the divestment of the A-10 fleet without an equivalent, dedicated CAS replacement. He notes that fifth-generation fighters prioritize air-dominance and deep-strike missions, leaving JTACs without the high-volume, live-fly CAS training repetitions they need to maintain combat proficiency. To address this, he recommends that the DoD must either advocate for a legislated A-10 replacement or explicitly modify existing manned or unmanned platforms to ensure JTACs can sustainably train and coordinate fires.
- Barger, Maj. Abby, "The Evolution of JP 3-0: How Doctrine Development Influences Strategy and Policy," SAASS thesis, 2021, 93 pgs.
- Bowers, Adriana M., "ONE STEP AHEAD: A U.S. Focus to Advance Logistics Footprint," GCPME thesis, 2024, 49 pgs.
- Castle, Maj. Nicklas A., "So Many Targets, So Little Time: Overcoming Airpower's Struggle to Win in Future Joint Fight," GCPME, 2024, 60 pgs.
- Endicott, Maj. Kenneth M., "USMC Force Design 2030 in Historical Context," GCPME 2023, 58 pgs.
- Johnson, William R., "Peering into the Future of Operational Planning," SAASS thesis, 2022, 100 pgs.
- McQuade, Lt. Col. John, "An Argument for the Resurgence of Strategic Attack," AWC Strategic Studies paper, 2019, 27 pgs.
- Miller, Maj. Rachel J., "Families in the Fight: AFFORGEN's Impact on Dual-Career Families," AFGC thesis, 2025, 37 pgs.
- Miller evaluates the USAF's transition to the AFFORGEN model, which was designed to provide the Joint Force with consistent and predictable capabilities for strategic competition. She highlights that a major barrier to the new model's success was that it was implemented without data-driven development, clear implementation guidance, or defined measures of success. Instead of using official Air Force instructions, guidance was communicated informally through briefings and emails, causing widespread confusion across the force and negatively impacting readiness. To overcome these barriers, she recommends that senior leaders reissue explicit, standing guidance on AFFORGEN to establish clear milestones and immediately implement tangible levers—such as the congressionally approved increase to the Family Separation Allowance (FSA)—to support the families enacting these new concepts.
- Pickett, Lt. Col. Bryan, "Clausewitz's Trinity: From Theory to Application in Joint Planning," AWC Strategic Studies Paper, 2020, 34 pgs.
- Stewart, Lt. Col. Michael F., "'Force Design 1930': The United States Marine Corps and the Doctrine of Organizational Survival," SAASS thesis, 2023, 83 pgs.
- Tittinger, Maj. James E., "Preparing for the Rain: Defending USAFE from Russia's Standoff Capabilities," AFGC thesis, 2025, 43 pgs.
- Tittinger highlights a decades-old, unresolved doctrinal dispute between the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Army over Air Base Air Defense (ABAD) responsibility. Because the Army operates the theater's primary kinetic defense systems (like Patriot and M-SHORAD) to protect its maneuvering units and specific strategic assets, USAFE is left with thousands of bases and geographically separated units that it cannot organically defend. To fix this critical vulnerability, he recommends explicitly changing doctrine to grant USAFE the authority, funding, and responsibility to procure its own organic self-defense capabilities against cruise missiles and large UAVs.