News From the CTC: The OPSYNC Best Practices

The Purpose of this document is to inform battalion and brigade leaders and staff on the importance of the operations synchronization meeting, and share lessons, best practices and examples of implementation. This document was informed by more than eighteen months of study, coaching, and mentoring from the JRTC OC/T task forces. The operations synchronization meeting (OPSYNC) is one of the central processes discussed during CTC rotations and is often the point of considerable frustration by battalion and BCT staffs. As a generation of leaders re-calibrate under the decisive action training environment (DATE), staffs are discovering the difficulty associated with harmonizing a diverse combat organization. Arriving at JRTC without developed processes and procedures necessary to synchronize the full capabilities of the BCT, units struggle to achieve mass and maintain momentum through transitions. While this deficiency is likely the result of several contributing factors, the proximate cause is the absence of an organized method to transition concepts into precise action. Ultimately, BCT staffs understand the importance of an OPSYNC, but fail to implement the process in sufficient detail necessary to withstand the complexity and turbulence of the battlefield. Succumbing to the weight of competing demands, the OPSYNC is never fully actualized as the centerpiece of the staff's daily battle rhythm.