Fragplan
Encyclopedia
A FRAGPLAN or a planning fragment is a document that contains a plan
for an activity or series of activities. The difference between a FRAGPLAN and a standard planning
document is that rather than being a complete, holistic, end-to-end plan it is instead a pluggable, planning component which may then be assembled with other fragments to rapidly construct a complete plan. An organization may create a series of FRAGPLANs which cover different alternatives as a part of developing a planning library. People within the organization may then have readily at hand planning components when an event requiring quick response involving several parts of the organization must be responded to.
The use of FRAGPLANs are a standard part of military
organizations. For instance FRAGPLANs were used as part of the execution of the movement from Europe to the Middle East of the US Army VII Corps in the first Gulf War
. VII Corps had FRAGPLANs for movement of VII Corp assets to various European port
s for embarkation on to ships and these FRAGPLANs were used as part of the total plan of moving VII Corps from its European locations to the Middle East.
The US Army describes a FRAGPLAN as planning "branches and sequels". A branch is a contingency plan or "options built into the basic plan" where as a sequel is "subsequent operations based on the possible outcomes of the current operation".
Plan
A plan is typically any diagram or list of steps with timing and resources, used to achieve an objective. See also strategy. It is commonly understood as a temporal set of intended actions, through which one expects to achieve a goal...
for an activity or series of activities. The difference between a FRAGPLAN and a standard planning
Planning
Planning in organizations and public policy is both the organizational process of creating and maintaining a plan; and the psychological process of thinking about the activities required to create a desired goal on some scale. As such, it is a fundamental property of intelligent behavior...
document is that rather than being a complete, holistic, end-to-end plan it is instead a pluggable, planning component which may then be assembled with other fragments to rapidly construct a complete plan. An organization may create a series of FRAGPLANs which cover different alternatives as a part of developing a planning library. People within the organization may then have readily at hand planning components when an event requiring quick response involving several parts of the organization must be responded to.
The use of FRAGPLANs are a standard part of military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
organizations. For instance FRAGPLANs were used as part of the execution of the movement from Europe to the Middle East of the US Army VII Corps in the first Gulf War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
. VII Corps had FRAGPLANs for movement of VII Corp assets to various European port
Port
A port is a location on a coast or shore containing one or more harbors where ships can dock and transfer people or cargo to or from land....
s for embarkation on to ships and these FRAGPLANs were used as part of the total plan of moving VII Corps from its European locations to the Middle East.
The US Army describes a FRAGPLAN as planning "branches and sequels". A branch is a contingency plan or "options built into the basic plan" where as a sequel is "subsequent operations based on the possible outcomes of the current operation".