scope:

APPLICABILITY AND SCOPE. Operational planning as described in this guide refers to the annual cycle of planning for routine Coast Guard operations and contingency preparedness guidance but does not specifically address strategic, budget, and crisis-action planning. However, the information generated from SOPP/GFM will serve to inform these other planning processes. This Instruction does not address emergent (current year) Requests for Forces (RFF) or Requests for Assistance (RFA). FY+1 and FY+2 RFFs and RFAs are inputs into the SOPP/GFM planning cycle and will be coordinated through the process described in this Instruction.

PURPOSE. This Instruction establishes policies, procedures, roles, and responsibilities for the Coast Guard's Standard Operational Planning Process (SOPP) and Global Force Management (GFM). The Coast Guard shall begin implementing the processes described within this Instruction to affect Fiscal Year 2011-2012 operational planning. SOPP/GFM will initially focus on apportionment of major assets such as cutters, boats, aircraft, and deployable specialized forces (DSF). It will evolve into a fully integrated Coast Guard Global Force Management System capable of managing all resources for apportionment, allocation, and assignment within the Coast Guard and amongst other Agencies and Departments. SOPP/GFM shall achieve the following objectives:

a. Standardize operational planning products for use by the Deputy Commandant for Operations (DCO), the Mission Support Organization, Coast Guard Force Readiness Command (FORCECOM), Area Commanders, Districts, Sectors, and other operational commands;

b. Establish a Coast Guard Global Force Management process and governance structure including a Global Force Management Board;

c. Adapt the SOPP/GFM cycle to address alignment with the DoD GFM process and account for other departmental and interagency requests for Coast Guard forces;

d. Translate and communicate strategic intent, through planning guidance and direction, to influence mission execution;

e. Measure operational mission performance that informs subsequent strategic, budgetary, readiness, and operational planning efforts; and

f. Incorporate risk-informed methods and processes/models at the strategic and operational levels, as they evolve in the Coast Guard, to support establishing planning priorities among missions, performance targets, and force apportionment to better understand and articulate the impacts of shifting resources from one mission to another.