US ARMY COMMAND AND GENERAL STAFF COLLEGE

US Army Command and General Staff School

Command and General Staff Officer Course (CGSOC) Common Core
F100: Force Management

F100 Block Advance Sheet

Appendix F: F100 Change Proposal Writing Guide

Purpose

The F100 Change Proposal allows you to apply areas of force management while relating them to your
basic branch and/or military area of interest. CGSC developed this project to simulate an abbreviated staff
product with a prescribed format. You will adhere to a directed format, conduct two in-progress reviews
(azimuth checks), and summarize a large amount of information into a five-minute wave top brief to
leadership.

If you use sources other than course materials, cite the sources using methods outlined in ST 22-2:
Professional Writing: The Command and General Staff College Writing Guide. Instructors will
evaluate you on how well you understand force management systems and implications (content) by
applying that information in developing a coherent argument, and whether the tone and style are
consistent with that expected of professional staff work (written and verbal communication skills).

Instructional Overview

The change proposal is NOT a case study, meaning you must find a novel solution to your identified gap
rather than researching and writing about what the Army is pursuing or pursued in the past. It is
acceptable to identify a solution the Army is pursuing and argue that it is not the correct COA, but again
your proposal must be novel. You will use the DOTMLPF-P framework to generate potential solutions
and select your recommended course of action. As the course focuses on organizational and materiel
solutions, all papers must discuss organization and materiel solutions somewhere in the paper. This can be
part of the primary solution or within the second- and third-order effects.

The student-developed change proposal will consist of three phases: (1) azimuth checks one and two, (2)
written product, and (3) presentation. Your audience is a senior officer and not a force management
officer. They will generally understand force management and your branch. Use an appropriate mix of
plain-English and technical language in your change proposal. Critical to your success:

 Take advantage of the azimuth checks by having a dialogue with your instructor as you build out
your proposal; listen to and incorporate their feedback.
 Apply the Force Management model within your paper: Do not merely tell your instructor about
the various processes but instead describe how those processes will bring your proposal into the
Army.
 Rehearse your change proposal brief: Deliver the most important information within the time
standard.

Azimuth Checks Phase

During the azimuth checks phase, you will present an outline (or brief narrative) demonstrating that you
are on a path to success in your change proposal. Each azimuth check describes how you intend to meet

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the information requirement for the appropriate portions of the written product. Consider the below
questions a guide for what you must answer. Answering these questions will assist you and your
instructor in scoping your research and writing. Your instructor may authorize you to write a more
complete draft at their discretion. The course standard is to answer each of the below questions with no
more than 2-4 sentences to allow instructors a quick turn with feedback so you can continue to work and
make adjustments as needed.

The first azimuth check will help you address sections one and two of the paper:

1a. What gap will you address (What does the Army need to do/ need have that it currently does not?)
Example gap statements are below to help you refine the gap statement you incorporate in your paper.
As previously stated, you are creating a new gap statement rather than using a pre-existing example.

[Materiel example from 1990 time period] U.S. light divisions and early entry forces
do not have the organic assets to effectively perform battle tasks on a worldwide
basis. While corps level assets could provide supporting 155mm howitzer and M270
MLRS fires to accomplish these missions, the lack of strategic deployability
resources may have limited or even precluded the introduction of these weapons into
the theater in time to affect the battle. (This gap statement led to the creation of
HIMARS.)

[Organizational example from 2019 time period] Current ADA formations are not
organized with the required skill sets to employ the Indirect Fire Protection
Capability System of Systems. These formations possess limited capability to defend
against threat unmanned aerial systems, fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft, rockets,
artillery, mortars, cruise missiles, and theater ballistic missiles. (This gap statement
led to the creation of the Indirect Fire Protection Capability (IFPC) battalion.)

1b. In what official documents is this gap demonstrated? (See MDO 2028, Warfighting Function
Functional/ Supporting Concept, LSCO Study.) Links to these documents are found further down in
the writers’ guide. Further strategic-level documents are available on Blackboard in the TRADOC
Master Library. You should cite these documents directly.

2a. What are some possible DOTMLPF-P solutions to this gap? You should provide at least two
different, feasible, acceptable, suitable solutions that would solve the problem and describe, in general,
how each solution addresses the problem.

2b. What are potential second- and third-order DOTMLPF-P impacts that the solution(s) above will
cause? [ex: a new drone for the ABCT (Materiel solution) will require additional maintenance bays in
motorpools (Facilities second-order effect). Your solution must include organizational and materiel
domains, either as the primary solution or as second- or third- order impacts.

The second azimuth check will cover sections 3-5 of the paper;

3. Recommended Approach

a. Which of the possible approaches is the preferred (and, therefore, proposed) solution?

b. Why is the preferred approach better than the other possible solutions?

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 c. What, in detail, needs to change? Start thinking about those force management processes that
will bring your idea into the Army.

4. DOTMLPF-P Impacts: What are impacts of your proposed change across the various domains?
You might have built this out while answering 2b during AZ 1. If not, this is the opportunity to
further research the second- and third-order effects across DOTMLPF-P that will likely occur
resulting from implementation of your solution.

5. Operational and Organizational Concept

a. How will commanders use the new capability?

b. How does it operate and what functionality does it provide?

c. Are there any dependencies or interfaces that are required?

After the azimuth checks, you will complete the final sections (6-8) and submit through Blackboard to
complete the written product phase.

6. Concept of Change

a. How should the Army implement the proposal over time?

b. How should the Army prioritize the change?

c. What are the potential integration problems? What are the mitigating measures?

7. Readiness: What are potential problems for readiness while the change is taking place or being
implemented?

8. Interim Solutions: What temporary solutions address the gap while your solution is implemented?

Written Product Phase

The written product phase consists of writing and submitting your paper IAW the schedule published by
your instructor. Your submission will conform to standards in ST 22-2:

 For blind-grading purposes – DO NOT PUT YOUR NAME ON YOUR PAPER –use your
DODIN and SG in lieu of your name.
 Ensure that pages have one-inch borders on all sides.
 Use Arial size 12 font.
 Double-space lines and paragraphs.
 Indent new paragraphs.
 For blind grading purposes, do not use a cover page.
 Ensure that page one of the paper is the first page (starting with section 1 of the format).

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  Number pages on the bottom; and center the page number.
 Identify and cite sources outside of the course materials using end notes. Turabian is the standard.
 Put all graphics (tables, sketches, diagrams, etc.) in appendices. Neither the appendices nor the
title page count toward the length of your paper.
 All papers will be submitted electronically via Blackboard.

Presentation Phase

During the presentation phase, you will provide a short (five-minute) information brief intended to gain
buy-in and/or solicit additional guidance for further development. This takes place at a general officer
level, similar to a final check with your center of excellence to prepare for an information brief to the
Army Requirements Oversight Council (AROC), chaired by the Vice Chief of Staff of the Army.

The Written Product Format

What follows is the information requirements for the formatted paper. The format includes:

 Recommended length as a guideline to achieve the minimum required length. You manage your
own information paper. Applying the recommended lengths will achieve approximately ten pages.
 Lesson numbers at the end of each section are those that contribute the most information for a
given section. This enables you to rapidly find relevant course material that can help you write your
paper. Do not write lesson numbers in your final submission.
 A requirement to include materiel and organizational impacts in your solution. In addition to
being an opportunity for you to explore intellectually, this paper is an assessment of F100 learning
objectives. You should include all relevant domains of DOTMLPF-P but must include materiel and
organizational impacts to meet the standards established in ELO 8.2. If your branch or warfighting
function does not generally receive materiel solutions, you might consider exploring how a potential
introduction of advanced technologies (artificial intelligence, autonomous and robotic systems) might
address your gap and resultantly affect organizations.

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 PROPOSAL:
This is your BLUF: one to five sentences that tell your audience what domain(s) of

DOTMLPF-P you suggest the Army (or your service or nation) use as approach(es) to

provide what capability. (Recommended length: 1-5 sentences; key lessons: F102.)

1. ISSUE:

This section is similar to the needs and gap analyses of a capabilities-based

assessment: Succinctly, this narrative should describe the requirement, the current

capability, and the gap (incorporating a gap statement similar to the examples found

earlier in the Writing Guide. The requirement ought to be derived and cited from a

published strategy, concept, or doctrine. Example concepts are found on Blackboard in

the TRADOC Master Library, and other national security documents, joint concepts, and

the Universal Joint Task List/Army Universal Task List (UJTL/AUTL). International/Sister

Service officers should link to similar documents from their nation/service. The required

capability should be clearly identified and compared to the current capability to

demonstrate a capability gap. Although we value your professional military judgment,

you must justify your assertions using cited publications. (Recommended length: 2

pages; key lessons: F101-F102.)

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 2. POSSIBLE APPROACHES:

This section is similar to the solutions analysis of a capabilities-based assessment.

Identify multiple courses of action (COAs) that could address the gap and provide a

simple description. Ensure your COAs include at least two different DOTMLPF-P

approaches that offer solutions or mitigations to the problem. Your identified COAs

ultimately may not meet suitable, feasible, acceptable criteria but must demonstrate that

you have considered all options. Identifying some of the second-order effects to your

possible approaches might provide screening criteria to get you to your recommended

approach and describe to your boss why a COA was not recommended. Do not provide

your boss with only a single solution. Because F100 must assess your understanding of

ELO standards, you must address both materiel and organization somewhere in the

paper. One strategy is to identify a materiel solution and then to identify a second-order

effect that drives an organizational change. Discuss with and gain approval from your

instructor during AZ 1 if you do not think you can address both organization and

materiel solutions in your Change Proposal. This section contains at least two distinct

primary solution approaches, which are not the same as second-order effects to a

single solution. Section 4 contains second-order effects to the approach you ultimately

recommend. (Recommended length: 0.75 pages; key lessons: F102.)

3. RECOMMENDED APPROACH:

This section contains your recommended COA. Describe the best solution to provide

the required capability. Identify the primary DOTMLPF-P domain. If this is a materiel

solution, describe what the materiel solution must do, should do, and could do (KPPs/

KSAs). Using your best professional military judgement, describe the maturity of the

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technology to provide initial insights into the technology readiness level (TRL) and how

that might affect the solution’s matriculation through the Defense Acquisition System.

You might also identify potential vendors that would compete to build your materiel

solution.

If this is an organizational solution, describe what the organization should be able to

do by writing a mission statement similar to those found in TOE narratives. Describe the

organization’s core competencies (defining capabilities that distinguish it from other

organizations), size, and echelon. Identify key equipment requirements. If you are

adding personnel, you must identify a bill-payer from your own warfighting function. You

do not have the space to hit everything, so identifying the most important aspects is

critical. (Recommended length: 1.25 pages; key lessons: F103)

4. DOTMLPF-P IMPACTS:

Identify possible impacts (second-order effects) that your solution will have across

other DOTMLPF-P domains (not your primary). To assess F100 learning objectives, you

must address organizational and materiel domains somewhere in the paper. If you have

already discussed one of these domains as your recommended approach, you need

only include the other here.-Ultimately you will discuss organizations, materiel, plus at

least two other domains through second- and third-order effects. (Recommended

length: 1.25 pages; key lessons: F104-F105.)

5. OPERATIONAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL CONCEPT:

Explain in conceptual terms how the proposed solution will overcome the capability

gap that you have described. If it is an organizational solution, this concept will focus on

how the organization looks on the ground now and how it will look after reorganization.

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If it is not an organizational solution, discuss how the Army (think “commander”) will

implement the solution on the battlefield. Discuss the echelons that will employ the

solution and those that will be most affected by it. Describe the roles and functions it will

perform. Tie your solution back to the argument you made in section 1 (Issue) and

describe how it fills the identified gap. (Recommended length: 1.5 pages; key lessons:

F104.)

6. CONCEPT OF CHANGE:

Explain how the Army will implement the change. Use one or more of the force

integration functional areas (FIFA) to identify concerns (friction points) in integrating this

solution. Focus on practical matters related to force integration (fielding) and identify

additional second and third order effects specific to the transition period.

Prepare to compete for limited resources in Total Army Analysis (TAA). To help the

Army prioritize, provide an impact statement if the Army does not resource the solution.

Your impact statement will be a logical argument for how the final resourcing decision

for this solution impacts the Army. A good technique is to consider impacts to

commanders’ options. Commanders view their operational capabilities in terms of

options and quickly orient on words like “enable, allow, deny, limit,” or “delay.”

(Recommended length: 1 page; key lessons: F106.)

7. READINESS:

Describe how this proposal contributes to the service’s requirement to provide a

trained, ready, and lethal force through the Regionally-Aligned Readiness and

Modernization Model (ReARMM). Consider the immediate readiness impacts during

fielding and integration. Also consider the long-term impacts on readiness after it is

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fielded and integrated. Identify concerns with external dependencies that would affect its

deployability. (Recommended length: 0.5 pages; key lessons: F106.)

8. INTERIM SOLUTION(S):

Identify possible temporary solutions to address your gap while the Army seeks to

execute your solution. Interim solutions might include using technology available via

COTS (commercial-off-the-shelf), relying on allies or partners, or another sub-optimal

approach. Discuss advantages and disadvantages of pursuing one of these interim

solutions. FM Hint: If you conclude that the Army can continue with the status-quo as an

interim solution, you have effectively nullified the legitimacy of your capability gap.

(Recommended length: 0.5 pages; key lessons: all.)

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