Strategic planning in defense environments is not the same as strategic planning in the private sector or in civilian government agencies. The stakes are different, the constraints are different, and the adversaries are real. Gotham Government Services (GGS) provides strategic defense planning consulting to DoD components, combatant commands, and defense agencies that need rigorous, structured approaches to planning under conditions of complexity, uncertainty, and operational pressure.
What Strategic Defense Planning Consulting Covers
Strategic defense planning encompasses the processes, frameworks, and analytical methods that military organizations and defense agencies use to align resources with objectives, anticipate adversary actions, assess risk, and make consequential decisions under time pressure and incomplete information. GGS supports clients across the full spectrum of strategic planning activity — from foundational strategy development and campaign planning to wargaming, red-teaming, and exercise design.
Our consulting practice is built on the recognition that planning processes are only as good as the people executing them. GGS delivers both the analytical rigor that effective defense planning requires and the training and facilitation support that ensures planning teams can use their processes well — not just in a workshop, but in real planning cycles under operational conditions.
Core Strategic Defense Planning Services
Strategy Development and Campaign Planning Support
GGS supports defense organizations in developing and refining strategic plans, campaign plans, and supporting operational plans. We facilitate structured planning processes that help senior leaders and staff officers work through problem framing, mission analysis, course of action development and wargaming, and decision-making under uncertainty. Our facilitators understand joint planning doctrine and can work effectively with both uniformed personnel and civilian defense professionals at the O-6/GS-15 level and above.
Wargaming and Red Team Analysis
Wargaming is a structured, adversarial simulation used to stress-test plans, surface assumptions, and reveal vulnerabilities before they matter operationally. GGS designs and facilitates wargames for defense clients ranging from tabletop exercises with small planning teams to multi-day operational-level wargames with large stakeholder groups. We provide red team analysis — structured adversarial thinking that challenges the assumptions embedded in plans and assessments — and help clients build organic red team capability within their own organizations.
Strategic Planning Process Design and Facilitation
Many defense organizations have planning requirements but lack the internal facilitators or process expertise to run effective planning sessions. GGS provides experienced facilitators who can design and run structured planning workshops, strategic reviews, and off-site sessions. We help organizations move from unfocused discussion to clear decisions, documented assumptions, and actionable next steps — outcomes that too many planning sessions fail to produce.
Planning Skills Development and Training
Long-term planning capability requires building the skills of the people doing the planning, not just hiring external consultants to plan on their behalf. GGS develops and delivers planning skills training for defense staffs, including joint planning process training, strategic thinking and analysis, wargame design and facilitation, and decision-making frameworks. We design training that fits the operational tempo and learning environment of the specific organization — not generic curriculum adapted from a commercial source.
Why Defense Organizations Choose GGS
Veteran-led with operational credibility. As a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business, GGS brings genuine operational experience to strategic defense planning engagements. Our consultants have planned and executed at the operational and strategic level. That credibility matters when working with senior military leaders who expect their planning support contractors to understand the operational context — not just the planning frameworks.
Rigorous analytical methods. GGS applies structured analytic techniques — red teaming, structured argumentation, assumption-based planning, and scenario analysis — that produce planning outputs grounded in explicit reasoning rather than unstated assumptions. We help clients distinguish between what they know, what they assess, and what they are assuming, which is the foundation of sound strategic judgment.
Training and planning integrated. GGS uniquely combines strategic planning consulting with a deep training and workforce development capability. When clients need both external planning support and internal capability development, GGS can deliver both in a coordinated engagement — building the organization’s long-term planning capacity while supporting immediate operational planning requirements.
Established contract access. Defense agencies can access GGS strategic defense planning services through HCaTS Small Business (GS02Q17DCR0007), GSA Multiple Award Schedule (47QRAA26D003R), or SDVOSB sole-source authority.
Who We Support
GGS provides strategic defense planning consulting to a range of clients including DoD program offices and staff organizations, joint and service component commands, defense agencies with strategic planning mandates, and organizations preparing for or conducting major exercises. We work at the unclassified and classified levels and can support planning activities at geographically dispersed locations including CONUS and OCONUS facilities.
Frequently Asked Questions
What planning frameworks does GGS use?
GGS consultants are proficient in Joint Planning Process (JPP), Design, and other doctrine-aligned planning methodologies used across the joint force. We adapt our approach to the specific framework your organization uses and the planning problem you are trying to solve — rather than imposing a single methodology regardless of fit.
Can GGS support classified planning activities?
GGS maintains clearance levels that allow support for classified planning activities. Specific clearance requirements and facility access depend on the nature of the engagement. Contact us early in your acquisition planning process to discuss clearance and facility requirements so we can confirm our ability to support before you begin procurement.
How does GGS approach wargame design?
Effective wargames begin with a clear statement of the planning questions the wargame is designed to answer. GGS starts every wargame design engagement by working with the client to define those questions precisely, then designs the wargame scenario, adjudication rules, and player structure to surface answers to those specific questions. We avoid generic wargame designs that produce interesting discussions but inconclusive findings.
What contract vehicles can DoD organizations use to engage GGS?
GGS strategic defense planning services are available through HCaTS Small Business (GS02Q17DCR0007), GSA MAS (47QRAA26D003R), and SDVOSB sole-source authority. Contact us to discuss which vehicle fits your acquisition timeline and requirements.