Defense Science Board Task Force on Mobility
Abstract
The attached report responds to the February 20, 2004 Terms of Reference tasking: "to identify the acquisition issues in improving our strategic mobility capabilities." The ability to project joint forces over great distances is a basic strength of the U.S. military. In the past, however, the speed of force projection has not been as critical to campaign success and the achievement of U.S. national security objectives as it is today. Both the 2001 and 2005 National Defense Strategy objectives place greater emphasis than in the past on the nation's worldwide commitments, increasing the demand for responsive forces capable of simultaneously conducting major combat operations and supporting lesser contingencies that may require rapid force application. These changes will place a greater emphasis on the capabilities required to project power rapidly from the continental United States and forward locations. Air and maritime forces have inherent force projection capabilities to meet this demand; land force projection depends upon strategic mobility forces and processes. The task force focused mainly upon land force projection since it is the most challenging. In this report the task force adopts a `system of systems' approach to identify the future mobility capabilities needed for rapid force projection (deploying joint forces to an operational area) and sustainment (supporting deployed forces and other entities that will participate in a campaign). The task force makes three principal sets of recommendations: capability acquisitions; research and development (R&D) efforts; and process improvements to enable mobility forces to respond to the increasing demands placed upon them by the challenging strategic environment.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 2005
- Accession Number
- ADA441079
Entities
People
- William G. Tuttle Jr.
Organizations
- Defense Science Board