A FRAGPLAN (Fragmentary Plan) or a ''planning fragment'' is a document that contains a
plan
A plan is typically any diagram or list of steps with details of timing and resources, used to achieve an objective to do something. 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 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 standard practice in
military
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
organizations. For instance FRAGPLANs were used as part of the execution of the US Army's
VII Corps 7th Corps, Seventh Corps, or VII Corps may refer to:
* VII Corps (Grande Armée), a corps of the Imperial French army during the Napoleonic Wars
* VII Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Army prior to and during World War I
* VII ...
movement from Europe to the Middle East in the first
Gulf War
The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...
. VII Corps had FRAGPLANs for movement of VII Corp assets to various European
port
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as H ...
s for embarkation on to ships. These FRAGPLANs were used as part of the total plan to move 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 base plan" whereas a sequel refers to "subsequent operations based on the possible outcomes of the current operation".
See also
*
Interchangeable parts
*
Operations order
References
{{reflist, 1
External links
US Army Field Manual FM-100-5, Operations
Planning
Military doctrines