This United States Marine Corps manual, Marine Corps Warfighting Publication MCWP 5-10 Marine Corps Planning Process August 2020, was first published in January 2000 as MCWP 5-1. Since that time, Marine Corps forces at all echelons of command have used the Marine Corps Planning Process (MCPP) to conduct the range of military operations. The use of design over the last decade suggests that design is more than conceptual planning which establishes aims, objectives, and intentions. A more critical role of design is to promote understanding of the current situation as a basis for broad solutions. While design establishes the nature of the problem, the inclusion of a design methodology in this revision aids commanders, staffs, and planners in determining the problem set and a framework for solving them. The publication’s design methodology reflects a belief that sufficient complexity can exist at all levels of warfare and across the conflict continuum to include tactical situations that will require an understanding of the set of problems that hinder movement from the current state to the desired state of an operational environment. Among all critical factors bearing on military operations, time is defining. The MCPP helps Marines win the time fight through a promotion of intuitive understanding, commander’s intent, and the use of task and purpose when operating inside an established paradigm. Another time aid is the center of gravity techniques used to determine which of the actions that address a problem set will be decisive. These visions of decisiveness inform the convergence of combat power through main and supporting efforts and resource priorities. The publication focuses primarily on commanders with staffs; however, any Marine required to plan operations should know the planning process well enough to determine the problem, envision a desired state, and develop options for achieving that state. This publication supersedes MCWP 5-10, Marine Corps Planning Process, dated 24 August 2010. MCWP 5-10 implements North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Standardization Agreement (STANAG) 2014, NATO Formats for Orders and Designation of Timing, Locations, and Boundaries.
