During the planning phase, the Department of Defense (DOD) analyzes the threat to national security and develops appropriate strategies to prepare for and handle the threat. The planning phase culminates in the development of the Strategic Planning Guidance (SPG) and initial Defense Fiscal Guidance (DFG) to the services and defense agencies. SPG provides planning assumptions and direction for the Component's program submission, or Program Objectives Memorandum (POM). SPG is not resource constrained and becomes the foundation for many of the subsequent discussions in POM and budget review phases on military requirements.

TCG participates in Integrated Project Teams (IPTs) to establish program requirements, provide guidance on the proper document type and initiate technical tasking for current and future budget years. It can also provide experienced personnel in analyzing the SPG and providing budget documentation and analysis in development of program priority lists for customer command inputs to the Joint Programming Guidance (JPG).