Operations Other Than War--Albatross or Twenty-Four Hour Flu on Force Readiness.
Abstract
With the decline of the Soviet Union, the United States Army has become engaged in a multitude of operations that are different and more complex in nature from those of the Cold War. While still needing to train for full scale conventional war, the Army has the additional mission of OOTW. Since 1990, the Army has conducted 27 deployments within the peace and conflict spectrums. Can the U.S. Army continue to perform numerous OOTW missions and maintain a level of combat readiness that ensures it is capable of winning the nation's wars? This monograph examines the effects of OOTW missions on the readiness of U.S. Army forces. Section 1 discusses the emerging role of the U.S. military during the Post Cold War era. The basis for this discussion is the reemergence of the United Nations in promoting stability and security in the present international environment and its influence on the United States to achieve this goal. Additionally this section examines the United States National Security Strategy and National Military Strategy to understand the future implications of both policies for the military. Section II focuses on recent U.S. Army OOTW historical experience in order to develop criteria for evaluating the effects of OOTW on the combat readiness of Army forces. Section III takes the criteria developed in the previous section and evaluates the effects of OOTW missions on U.S. Army forces and their ability to recover to a combat ready status. Section IV synthesizes the analysis from the previous sections and provides conclusions and recommendations on reducing the effects of OOTW on the readiness of active Army forces. Conclusions from this study indicate the United States Army's combat readiness is adversely affected by the increased number of OOTW missions in the Post Cold War era. This monograph proposes recommendations that would lessen the degrading effects of OOTW missions on the readiness of U.S. Army active forces.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 21, 1998
- Accession Number
- ADA357833
Entities
People
- Bradley K. Nelson
Organizations
- United States Army Command and General Staff College