Guessing right for the next war: streamlining, pooling, and right-timing force design decisions for an environment of uncertainty
Abstract
Streamlining, pooling, and task organization have formed key ingredients for not only how the Army fought World War II, but also how it continues to organize today. In essence, streamlining pares down every unit to its essentials based around a single critical capability it provides to the combined arms team. The capabilities taken away are then pooled into formations of like type. In combat, then, the commanders on the ground can task organize those resources together based upon the environment, conditions, and enemy presented to them. The genius of this conceptual mix, the combination of streamlining, pooling, and task organization, stems from the ability to avoid committing to one force design solution to modern combat. This mix allowed the Army to wait until combat experience taught Army leaders to understand its demands. The Army after World War II shied away from temporary organizational systems like these in favor of the mirage of the ideal self-contained combat unit. Current Army forces use streamlining and pooling for many of the same reasons the Army did during World War II. Other institutional reasons to pool forces have crept into the force design process. These institutional requirements for force structure impose pooling on the Army in ways that it might not choose and may be limiting Army effectiveness and efficiency. In response to these limitations imposed on Army efficiency and effectiveness, this monograph proposes the idea of an Army task force framework can allow the Army to build around fundamental Army capabilities. Much like the Marine Corps' Marine Air-Ground Task Force, an equivalent Army task force would have components representing each of the five key attributes of Army forces: maneuver, fires, aviation, sustainment, and command. Such a structure obviates much of the negatives of using streamlining, pooling, and task organization while retaining its most important feature: adaptability.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 25, 2017
- Accession Number
- AD1038976
Entities
People
- Noah A. Emery-morris
Organizations
- School of Advanced Military Studies