A Rational Approach to Total Force Planning

Abstract

As a nation the United States has a lengthy tradition of maintaining minimum sized standing forces in peacetime, and relying on the militia, the citizen soldier, to form the nucleus of the expanded forces needed during periods of conflict. The Cold War changed this. For the first time in our history there was a need to maintain substantial forces without their immediate use in a "hot" war. This departure from tradition was driven by the threat of Soviet expansionism; a threat which appears to have virtually evaporated. The broad question we now face is to what degree we should revert to our pre-Cold War peacetime tradition by reducing our active forces and placing increased dependence on our modern versions of the militia. Are the threats we now face compelling enough to significantly revise the tradition?

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 10, 1993
Accession Number
ADA440704

Entities

People

  • Scott R. Nichols

Organizations

  • National War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Active Duty
  • Air Force
  • Cold War
  • Combat Forces
  • Combat Readiness
  • Congress
  • Cost Effectiveness
  • Defense Planning
  • Department Of Defense
  • Flight Crews
  • Force Structure
  • Law
  • Military Operations
  • Militia
  • Tanker Aircraft
  • Training
  • Warfare

Readers

  • East Asian Political and Security Studies within the Soviet Union
  • Economics
  • Irregular Warfare and Special Operations Cyberspace Operations against Adversarial Threats.