Uniformed Diplomacy: Reviewing the Army Leader Development Strategy in Light of the Regional Alignment of Forces Construct

Recent paradigmatic changes within the Department of Defense present the United States Army with both opportunities and challenges. The 2010 National Security Strategy's emphasis on collective security, assured access, and forward presence requires all of the armed services to fulfill global mandates amid declining resources. To meet these objectives, the Army's leadership developed a "Regionally Aligned Forces" construct--whereby units of all types and echelons prepare to provide "tailorable, scalable" forces for "aligned" Geographic Combatant Commands, as required. By focusing units' preparation towards a specific range of possible operations and theaters, the Army presumes it can more precisely conduct unified action to "prevent, shape, and win" conflicts anywhere they might arise. Since 2012, the 2d Heavy Brigade Combat Team of the 1st Infantry Division piloted this mission set, supporting dozens of deployments throughout Africa Command. Though the "Dagger Brigade" devised innovative means of preparing their junior leaders for these engagements with partnered militaries, the Army has not significantly altered its leader development models in anticipation of wider implementation of the RAF mission. This thesis reviews the 2013 Army Leader Development Strategy in light of the Dagger Brigade's experience to shed light on non-traditional diplomatic preparation that this mission might require.