{"id":45444,"date":"2018-01-16T15:44:06","date_gmt":"2018-01-16T15:44:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/01\/16\/national-military-strategy-update-in-the-works-most-of-which-will-again-be-classified\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T22:05:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:05:11","slug":"national-military-strategy-update-in-the-works-most-of-which-will-again-be-classified","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2018\/01\/16\/national-military-strategy-update-in-the-works-most-of-which-will-again-be-classified\/","title":{"rendered":"National Military Strategy update in the works \u2014 most of which will again be classified"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

BRUSSELS \u2013 Gen. Joe Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is prepping his team to update the National Military Strategy \u2013 a classified document that will provide the framework for how the Pentagon can execute the goals of Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking to reporters Jan. 15, Dunford said the document will not require \u201ca complete rewrite,\u201d but that updates will be needed to reflect what has changed since the last National Military Strategy was released in 2016<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the National Military Strategy that we wrote [in 2016], we wrote it during a time of political transition. So what we tried to do was make it policy agnostic, knowing that when a National Defense Strategy came out we\u2019d have to kind of go back and provide a policy framework within which the strategy would be implemented,\u201d Dunford explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Trump administration is in the midst of releasing a series of interconnected strategy documents. First came the National Security Strategy in December, a broad overview of the administration\u2019s priorities. Then comes the National Defense Strategy, which outlines how the NSS will apply to the Pentagon, on Jan. 19. That will be followed by the Nuclear Posture Review and Ballistic Missile Defense Review, both expected in February.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The National Military Strategy<\/a> is best thought of as the operational version of the National Defense Strategy, outlining how the military will execute the goals laid out in the NDS. Hence, with a new National Defense Strategy must come changes to the National Military Strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what might change under Dunford\u2019s second crack at the NMS? The chairman made it sound like it will largely involve coloring in details that were already laid out in the previous document, particularly around the analysis of the \u201c4+1\u201d challenges to America \u2013 China, Russia, North Korea, Iran and violent extremism.<\/p>\n\n\n\t