Si Vis Pacem, Para Pacem: Training for Humanitarian Emergencies
Abstract
Complex humanitarian emergencies (CHEs) have proliferated around the world. Internal conflicts that combine large-scale displacements of people, mass famine and fragile or failing economic, social, and political institutions are becoming commonplace. While the end of the Cold War has reduced the risk of great-power conflict, it has also decreased the perceived constraints on proxy wars, and as a result, over 40 unresolved conflicts currently fester, simmer, or rage. International peacekeeping forces alone are unlikely to achieve lasting results in most cases, but they can stop the fighting and help implement fair and lasting resolutions. While the U.S. Army prepares to fight and win two nearly simultaneous major theater wars, it will frequently be called upon to provide the military forces necessary to implement our nation's multifaceted response to CHEs. Even though peace operations and preventing deadly conflict are becoming increasingly common missions, the Army currently treats each CHE as an exception; it engages in little routine preparation for such events. This problem is now known and discussed beyond the corridors of the Pentagon. Of all the services, the Army has had the most difficult transition from a Cold War force ready to defeat the Soviet Union to the sort of nimble force needed to fight wars like the one in Kosovo. The Army must create a routine training program to make the U.S. response to CHEs more successful. Unless the Army creates specialized units whose primary mission is to respond to CHEs, all units must have the ability to perform them. Hence, in keeping with the Army's "train as you fight" philosophy, all National Training Center (NTC), Combat Maneuver Training Center (CMTC) and Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) rotations should include a CHE scenario both leading up to and building down from a typical mid-intensity conflict (MIC) scenario.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 2000
- Accession Number
- ADA485667
Entities
People
- Elizabeth O. Young
- John A. Nagl
Organizations
- United States Military Academy