Fighting Future Conflicts With a Military Coalition of Forces

This study proposes moving from the current Department of Defense, (DOD) Ad Hoc approach to an established framework using five key factors as a basis for executing military coalition operations. Moving from an Ad Hoc approach or a temporary piecemeal organization means formalizing how we fight with a military coalition of forces during combat operations. This study analyzes five key factors -- political agreements, military objective, interoperability of coalition militaries, simplicity, and geopolitical agreements -- to create a framework for successful execution of a military coalition of forces. Throughout this study we compare and contrast these five key factors in three four-star led military coalition operations -- Desert Storm, Allied Force, and Iraqi Freedom -- to show their relevance in executing operations with a military coalition of forces.