This monograph seeks to answer the question "What is the best model to use in developing strategy?" Five strategy-making models are available for the military strategist to use: elite, rational, process, incremental, and estimate of the situation. The models are defined and discussed to enable the reader to understand how each model works. To provide examples of these models, four American military strategies are examined, and retroactively, specific models are applied to analyze how the strategies were developed. These strategies include the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the escalations of the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. These were chosen because they represent strategies that resulted in military misfortune. The models are evaluated using five criteria: structure, simplicity, time, resources required, and quality of outcome. Advantages and disadvantages are determined; criteria are rank ordered for each model; criteria are weighted according to their importance: and the best strategy-making model selected. The process model is the recommended model followed closely by the estimate and rational models. The significance of this monograph lies in its ability to provide an understanding of how strategy-making models work, to provide insights into four historical examples, and to offer the advantages and disadvantages of each model. The monograph guides the reader toward using the recommended model -- the process model.

ADA 256696 Approved for public release; Distribution is unlimited. The opinions and conclusions expressed herein are those of the student-authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College or any other governmental agency. (References to these studies should include the foregoing statement.)