Protecting the Homeland. Insights from Army Wargames
Abstract
The Army After Next (AAN) Project and, more recently, the Army Transformation Study, Wargames, and Analysis Project have identified issues relating to homeland security. Over the course of five major wargames, a counterterrorism workshop, and a homeland security symposium, U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) has brought together senior civilian and military personnel to wrestle with hard questions about emerging threats to the United States during the period 2015 to 2020. The initial insights about homeland security emerged unexpectedly. Although the study of homeland security was not a primary area of interest for TRADOC, all wargames and workshops were partially designed to examine specific research questions relating to this topic. This report analyzes four wargames, a counterterrorism workshop, and a homeland security symposium, all conducted between 1996 and 2000, in an effort to better understand and prepare for future warfare. At the time the games were conducted there was a lack of clarity concerning both the future threats to the homeland and the evolving role of the Army in homeland security. Indeed, within the various agencies of the U.S. government there continues to be a lack of uniformity in definitions for such terms as homeland defense, homeland security, weapons of mass destruction, crisis management, consequence management, combating terrorism, counterterrorism, and antiterrorism. While some progress has been made on these fronts, there remains a need to build a consensus within the U.S. government concerning all aspects of homeland security. Part of this consensus must include the definition of key terms associated with this mission area. Finally, such a review must explicitly state the assumed limitations imposed by U.S. law and policy, and how those differences might affect the decisionmaking process in the event of a declared war against an adversarial regime.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2002
- Accession Number
- ADA407705
Entities
People
- Richard Brennan
Organizations
- RAND Corporation