CA 2025: the strategic design of Civil Affairs

Abstract : The goal of this capstone is the strategic redesign of the U.S. Army Civil Affairs (CA) Regiment in 2025 in support of the Army 2025 strategic vision. Design Thinking is the process used to plan and develop this strategic design. The authors led a twenty-person Civil Affairs design team through the five-phase process of Design Thinking adapted from the Stanford D School model: discovery; problem framing; ideation; prototyping; and testing. Design Thinking s collaborative and multidisciplinary approach to planning yielded innovative prototypes of CA identity, strategic messaging, branding, human resource management (e.g., recruitment, selection, training, and professionalization) and force structure. Two of these prototypes are in the initial stages of implementation within the CA Regiment, while the others await higher resolution development. The capstone concludes with recommendations as to how the Regiment can build on this creative and innovative endeavor to ensure its strategic relevance in the future.