A military operation plan (commonly called a war plan before

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

) is a formal

plan A plan is typically any diagram or list of steps with details of timing and resources, used to achieve an Goal, objective to do something. It is commonly understood as a modal logic, temporal set (mathematics), set of intended actions through wh ...

for military armed forces, their

military organization Military organization (American English , AE) or military organisation (British English , BE) is the structuring of the armed forces of a State (polity), state so as to offer such military capability as a military policy, national defense pol ...

s and units to conduct operations, as drawn up by commanders within the

combat operations process Combat operations area - process is undertaken by armed forces during military campaigns, major operations, battles, and engagements to facilitate the setting of objectives, direction of combat, and assessment of the operation plan's success. T ...

in achieving objectives before or during a conflict. Military plans are generally produced in accordance with the

military doctrine Military doctrine is the expression of how military forces contribute to campaigns, major operations, battles, and engagements. A military doctrine outlines what military means should be used, how forces should be structured, where forces shou ...

of the troops involved. Because planning is a valuable exercise for senior military staff, in peacetime nations generally produce plans (of varying detail) even for very unlikely hypothetical scenarios. Plan XVII and the Schlieffen Plan are examples of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

military plans. The

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

developed a famous color-coded set of war plans in the early 20th century; see

United States color-coded war plans During the 1920s and 1930s, the United States Armed Forces developed a number of color-coded war plans that outlined potential US strategies for a variety of hypothetical war scenarios. The plans, developed by the Joint Planning Committee (which l ...

. Military plans often have

code name A code name, codename, call sign, or cryptonym is a code word or name used, sometimes clandestinely, to refer to another name, word, project, or person. Code names are often used for military purposes, or in espionage. They may also be used in ...

United States

U.S. Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, t ...

Operations Plan (OPLAN) is a complete and detailed plan for conducting

joint A joint or articulation (or articular surface) is the connection made between bones, ossicles, or other hard structures in the body which link an animal's skeletal system into a functional whole.Saladin, Ken. Anatomy & Physiology. 7th ed. McGraw- ...

military operations. Such plans are developed by the staff of a Unified Combatant Command in response to actual or potential situations for which military operations may be required. An OPLAN is executed when the commander issues an

operations order An Operation Order, often abbreviated to OPORD, is a plan format meant to assist subordinate units with the conduct of military operations. An OPORD describes the situation the unit faces, the mission of the unit, and what supporting activitie ...

(OPORD), or when the

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) is the presiding officer of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). The chairman is the highest-ranking and most senior military officer in the United States Armed Forces Chairman: appointment; gra ...

(CJCS) issues an execute order (EXORD) at the direction of the

United States Secretary of Defense The United States secretary of defense (acronym: SecDef) is the head of the United States Department of Defense (DoD), the United States federal executive departments, executive department of the United States Armed Forces, U.S. Armed Forces, a ...

(Secdef) to implement a decision by the

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to initiate military operations. A concept plan (CONPLAN) is an operation plan in concept form, often lacking the level of details normally found in other military plans. Among publicly known U.S. Operations Plans are two which address possible events on the Korean Peninsula,

OPLAN 5027 Operations Plan 5027 (OPLAN 5027) are a series of military operations plans made by the United States and South Korea for the defense against a possible North Korean invasion. History Before 1973, OPLAN 5027 was primarily focused on defeating ...

, the U.S. general war plan which has been regularly updated since at least the mid-1990s, and

OPLAN 5029 OPLAN 5029 is a proposed military operation plan by the United States and South Korea for dealing with "sudden change" in North Korea, such as a coup d'état, revolution, large scale defections, outflow of weapons of mass destruction, hostage si ...

, a plan catering to a sudden collapse of the

Democratic People's Republic of Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

OPLAN 8044 The Single Integrated Operational Plan (SIOP) was the United States' general plan for nuclear war from 1961 to 2003. The SIOP gave the President of the United States a range of targeting options, and described launch procedures and target sets ag ...

and

OPLAN 8010 A military operation plan (commonly called a war plan before World War II) is a formal plan for military armed forces, their military organizations and units to conduct operations, as drawn up by commanders within the combat operations process ...

are both successor plans to the

Single Integrated Operational Plan The Single Integrated Operational Plan (SIOP) was the United States' general plan for nuclear war from 1961 to 2003. The SIOP gave the President of the United States a range of targeting options, and described launch procedures and target sets ag ...

, the general plan for nuclear war from 1961 to 2003. OPLAN 1003-98 was the pre-2002 plan for war with

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. As of 2024, the current general plan is OPLAN 1080-12.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental transnational military alliance of 32 member states—30 European and 2 North American. Established in the aftermath ...

the successful planning of multinational military operations requires common doctrine. This doctrine is documented in Allied Joint Publication (AJP) five, which is aimed primarily at those engaged in operational-level planning, specifically commanders and staffs employed in joint force command headquarters and component command headquarters. It describes the fundamental aspects of planning joint operations at the operational level and provides an overarching framework of the key planning principles, considerations and process steps that are followed in operational-level planning.

References

External links

Operation Plans (OPLAN)
- from GlobalSecurity.org

Command and control Military operations {{mil-stub

United States

North Atlantic Treaty Organization

See also

References

External links