[IWAR] RETHINKING DEFENSE - Revision to 2 MRC Doctrine

From: G. Mark Hardy (gmarkat_private)
Date: Tue Dec 16 1997 - 15:56:19 PST

  • Next message: Mark Hedges: "Re: [IWAR] RETHINKING DEFENSE - Revision to 2 MRC Doctrine"

    RETHINKING DEFENSE. A Congressionally-chartered National Defense Panel
    (NDP) said in a report released 1 December, that the longstanding
    Pentagon policy of preparing to fight two major regional wars at the
    same time will soon be outdated and has become an excuse for maintaining
    existing force structure.  The panel, consisting of private-sector
    experts, said the Pentagon should be moving faster to prepare for the
    likely threats to national security in the 21st century.  Senators Dan
    Coats (R-IN), Joseph Lieberman (D-CT), and Charles Robb (D-VA), who
    sponsored the 1996 legislation calling for the panel's review, praised
    the report.
    
    Following are selected highlights (not a summary) of the NDP report.
    Complete report can be found at the following web site:
    http://www.dtic.mil/ndp/
    
    OVERALL
    *  Put more emphasis on experimentation with weapons and military
    concepts.
    *  Permit more base closings.
    *  Services should share facilities.
    *  Concentrate less on preparing for large-scale warfare overseas.
    *  Focus more on protecting the U.S. from unconventional attacks by
    hostile forces with access to weapons of mass destruction.
    
    FORCE CAPABILITIES
    *  Under no circumstances should we reduce the quality or training of
    our people.
    *  Reserve and Guard units must be prepared and resourced for use in a
    variety of ongoing worldwide operations.
    *  Shared operational and training experiences, common educational
    opportunities, and frequent exchange of leaders among active and reserve
    components, the different services, coalition partners, and national and
    international agencies will serve to deepen mutual respect and reinforce
    a common ethic.
    
    INSTITUTIONALIZING CHANGE
    *  Create a Joint Battle Lab for experimentation and joint exercises.
    *  Establish a Joint National Training Center.
    *  Establish a Joint Urban Warfare Center.
    *  Establish a Joint Concept Development Center.
    *  Integrate existing service battle labs and facilities.
    
    UNIFIED COMMAND PLAN
    *  Maintain Strategic Command and Special Operations Command.
    *  Create Joint Forces Command to provide combat ready forces for joint
    and combine operations.
    *  Eliminate U.S. Atlantic Command.
    *  Create Logistics Command to provide global logistics, transportation,
    and asset visibility operations.
    *  Add the information support mission to the responsibilities of Space
    Command.
    *  Create Americas Command; subordinate Southern Command.
    *  Realign European, Central, and Pacific Commands.
    
    ALL FORCES
    *  Shift funds from upgrade of legacy systems to new systems focused on
    meeting the challenges of 2010-2020.
    *  Place more emphasis on directed energy, electromagnetic energy, and
    cyber-weapons.
    *  Enable greater speed, and penetration capability for Special
    Operations Forces to preempt or resolve terrorist activity or weapons of
    mass destruction (WMD) threat.
    *  Provide more near-zero miss, long-range stealthy cruise missiles,
    brilliant munitions, and submunitions in lieu of dumb weapons.
    *  Integrate ballistic and cruise missile defense to protect forces
    (both point and area targets), theaters, and regions; harmonize land-
    and sea-based missile defenses (i.e., ballistic and air breathers) in an
    effort to eliminate duplicative systems.
    *  Establish a distributed user-friendly global information system that
    includes a broadcast architecture.
    *  Create a "distributed," in-theater logistics structure in lieu of
    "iron mountains" (large stockpiles).
    *  Provide the ability to project significant power from forward
    deployed areas, as well as the United States, within hours or days
    rather than months.
    *  Explore new air and sealift concepts emerging in the commercial
    world.
    *  Accelerate network-centric operations linking sensors and weapons.
    *  Replace individual service component-unique systems with integrated,
    joint command, control, communications, computers, intelligence,
    surveillance, and reconnaissance systems.
    *  Structure less manpower-intensive forces.
    *  Create highly networked forces able to see the battlespace in near
    real time and to dynamically task and control forces.
    
    LAND FORCES
    *  Become more expeditionary: fast, shock-exploiting forces, with
    greater urban operations capability.
    *  Reduce systems that are difficult to move and support; shift to
    lighter, more agile automated systems.
    *  Evolve to lighter, greater range, more lethal fire-support systems.
    *  Develop the twenty-first century tank to be a unique vehicle relying
    on speed, agility, and hyper-velocity gun technology for operational
    effectiveness (the Panel's view is that 30-35 tons is the appropriate
    weight range).
    *  Move beyond Force XXI to incorporate the concepts embodied in Army
    After Next.
    *  Restructure above-the-line units, which evolve to smaller operational
    elements with equivalent (or greater) lethality.
    *  Move toward advanced vertical lift systems versus service-life
    extensions of current rotary-wing aircraft.
    
    SEA FORCES
    *  Move toward small-signature ships capable of providing sustained
    long-range, precision firepower.
    *  Design ship production to allow rapid incorporation of latest
    technology.
    *  Provide greater quantities of small unmanned underwater vehicles to
    augment and extend the reach of submarines.
    *  Construct follow-on carriers to capitalize on short take-off,
    vertical landing; unmanned aerial vehicle; and unmanned combat aerial
    vehicle aircraft characteristics with attendant reduction in size and
    personnel.
    *  Consider sea-based mobile off-shore bases to provide access in
    situations where forward bases are unavailable or at risk to
    pre-positioned forces.
    *  Provide insertion vehicles incorporating the latest technologies to
    extend the reach of the maneuver component of the naval power projection
    forces.
    
    AEROSPACE FORCES
    *  Ensure a proper mix of short- and long-range aerospace forces to
    enable optimal strike operations.
    *  Move toward fewer numbers of short-range aircraft providing increased
    delivery capacity with smaller, but more accurate weapons.
    *  Explore new approaches to long-range, precision delivery vehicles.
    *  More distributed satellite systems to provide redundancy and
    survivability of command, control, communications, computers,
    intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance.
    *  Short-take-off-vertical-landing aircraft on wide array of airfields,
    ships, and sea-based platforms.
    *  Increase ground surveillance capability.
    
    HOMELAND DEFENSE
    *  Develop integrated active and passive defense measures against the
    use of weapons of mass destruction (WMD).
    *  Develop and retain the option to deploy a missile defense system
    capable of defeating limited attacks.
    *  Incorporate all levels of government into managing the consequences
    of a WMD-type attack.
    *  Prepare reserve components to support consequence management
    activities.
    *  Support the recommendations of the President's Commission on Critical
    Infrastructure Protection.
    *  Use Department of Defense assets to advise and assist law enforcement
    in combating terrorist activities.
    
    INDUSTRIAL BASE
    *  Achieve and maintain technological superiority through time-based
    competition.
    *  Pursue commercial-off-the-shelf opportunities.
    *  Exploit dual-use technologies.
    *  Identify and protect military-unique technologies.
    *  Encourage new enterprises (as well as established firms) to develop
    innovative ideas-and penalize pedestrian efforts.
    *  Develop new rules and procedures that emphasize technology
    development and de-emphasize large production quantities.
    *  Review mobilization policy for balance, timeliness, relevance, and
    synchronization.
    
    INFRASTRUCTURE
    *  Reduce or eliminate Cold War infrastructure without delay.
    *  Develop financial systems that give commanders cost visibility.
    *  Change the budgeting process to create incentives to foster savings
    initiatives.
    *  Pass legislation to allow flexibility in resource reallocation.
    *  Revamp PPBS to facilitate innovation and change.
    *  Compete all commercial-oriented activities.
    *  Consider the "New Base Concept."
    *  Accelerate and expand the scope of BRAC 2001/2005.
    *  Develop a Department of Defense Installation Master Plan.
    



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