As large scale conventional war with the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact has all but disappeared as a credible threat to the security of the United States, our nation is shifting its defense focus toward the lower end of the operational continuum...
Since the seventeenth century, Sir Isaac Newton’s laws of motion have had tremendous impact on the Western world’s mind-sets for understanding nature as predictable and orderly. Consequently, Western strategic culture has been based on a linear...
The Global War on Terror brought about several military assistance efforts that include the training and development of foreign security forces. The United States has been providing advisors to foreign security forces around the world for over 120...
As the Army transitions to the 21st century, it must confront two key issues. The first is how to fight effectively on future battlefields and the second concerns the tactical force structure required to provide the best chance for success in...
The purpose of this paper is to answer two questions. The first question is: Is it feasible to use airborne forces to penetrate enemy airspace and to conduct a vertical envelopment to affect deep operational maneuver? If it is feasible, what are...
This study examines the Army's need for a middleweight force. Such a force must be rapidly deployable, opposed entry capable, lethal, tactically mobile and survivable against well armed 21st Century threats. Versatility is essential for the...
With the current changes in world structure, alliances and the reduction in the size of the armed forces of the U.S., operational art and AirLand Battle become increasingly important as concepts. FM 100-5, Operations, published in 1986, establishes...
This monograph examines the Arctic security environment, and concludes that the most significant threat to security in the Arctic rim in the year 2000 and beyond is the poor storage, handling and disposal of nuclear waste in the Russian North. The...
No one can predict the future but you must prepare for it. The standing joint task force (SJTF) headquarters concept in the 2001 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) was an attempt to prepare for the future by establishing permanent SJTF headquarters...
This study examines the potential for changing the force-structure of the U.S. Army from a forward-deployed model with units permanently stationed overseas to an expeditionary model. The expeditionary model would station all units within the...
China’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate over the past twenty years has been phenomenal and if continued even at a slightly slower pace, could exceed the GDP of the United States (US) by 2020. It is highly conceivable that China might...
The monograph discusses the Army's adoption of information technology to support its Force XXI concept. The central question is: Will the adoption of emerging information technology improve a commander's ability to exercise battle command in future...
On March 20, 2003, a United States led coalition invaded Iraq. The character of this conflict can be defined by the West’s ability to conduct precision strikes, to manoeuvre and to overwhelm the enemy’s command system. Emerging U.K. and U.S....
In response to lessons learned, the U.S. Air Force (USAF) launched a comprehensive program, in 2009, to make all Airmen cross-culturally competent (3C). As part of this program, the USAF has included cultural training in all levels of professional...
On 1 September, 1993, Secretary of Defense Les Aspin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Colin Powell announced the results of the Clinton Administration's Bottom-up Review (BUR), to determine America's future defense needs. This...
This monograph examines the implications for planning and conducting strike operations to achieve preemption of threats within the fundamentally altered post-Cold War security environment. The underlying premise is that doctrine and tactics based...
Since man’s initial contact with space in 1957, the U.S. and Russia have flirted with putting weapons in space. Today, two camps exist in the space weapons debate: sanctuary and weaponization. The sanctuary camp argues that space should remain...
Since the mid-1950s there have been attempts to create a regional military force in the English-speaking Caribbean. Although for differing reasons, these attempts have been driven by the interests of the extraregional powers, and at the times of...
The extraordinary economic rates of growth demonstrated in the Asia-Pacific region over the past decade are inextricably linked to an increase in energy consumption within the region. As annual consumption of energy resources continues to rise in...
China has invested in military modernization efforts to transform its defense and logistic systems to protect its economic interests abroad. In order for China to execute expeditionary operations effectively, it needs significant expeditionary...