Operational Mobility Challenges: Engineering Solutions for the Future Force
Abstract
As the US Army transforms to the Objective Force, it must clearly analyze the missions it will be called upon to conduct, then establish the right doctrine and force structure to accomplish those missions. In the Army Corps of Engineers, there is a historically dominant mission set unlikely to change in spite of ongoing material and digital developments: providing mobility support. Current developmental efforts in this mission set are predominantly at Division level and below. Accordingly, force structure implications at these levels center around combat engineering. This study takes the position that, while it is extremely critical to ensure mobility support at the tactical level, this focus neglects a mission set that has far reaching operational and strategic implications; one based on providing operational level mobility. The Quadrennial Defense Review 2001 addresses the issues of anti-access and area-denial strategies that counter US force projection and operational mobility. This study takes a current view of how the Army gains operational mobility and contrasts this with evolving future Objective Force requirements, with the goal of identifying critical mission sets for which future engineer doctrine, force structure, and training, are required to adequately support the Interim and Objective Force.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 09, 2002
- Accession Number
- ADA401652
Entities
People
- William H. Haight Iii
Organizations
- United States Army War College