The Future of U.S. Landpower: Special Operations Versatility, Marine Corps Utility

Abstract

American military landpower, represented by the U.S. Army and Marine Corps, finds itself in a period of transition. This phase is characterized by troop drawdowns from the decade-long, manpower-intensive counterinsurgency operations in Iraq and Afghanistan; an uncertain budgetary perspective given impending defense cutbacks; and a divisive debate on the appropriate roles and missions for ground forces in the future. This article aims to provide a forward-looking view of U.S. landpower for the next decade. While the sheer difficulty of predicting the future is known, the demands of policy and force planning require some attempt to delineate at least the rough contours of this upcoming period.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2013
Accession Number
ADA617479

Entities

People

  • Katie M. Sizemore
  • Kevin D. Stringer

Organizations

  • National Defense University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Biomedical
  • C4I
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Army Personnel
  • Combatant Commanders
  • Contingency Operations (Military)
  • Humanitarian Assistance
  • Military Force Levels
  • Military Organizations
  • Military Science
  • National Security
  • Terrorism
  • Unified Combatant Commands
  • United States
  • United States Africa Command
  • United States Central Command
  • United States Pacific Command
  • United States Southern Command
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Economics
  • Military and Counterinsurgency Studies.