This monograph explores the current debates surrounding "hollow forces" and the decrease in the defense budget following prolonged conflict. Leaders' strategic choices, which lead to decreasing resources, sometimes create the perception of hollow...
In October 2007, the combined maritime services of the United States released "A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower," defining how they will operate to support strategic considerations. One concept looking to support this strategy is...
Officially, Hungary started to develop its special operations capability in 2005. The Hungarian Defense Forces, however, already had units which were special operations capable, while the newly formed "34th Special Operations Battalion" does not...
The purpose of Airspace Command and Control (AC2) is to maximize the efficiency of all airspace users conducting simultaneous combat operations in support of the commander's intent. Effective AC2 requires successful identification, coordination,...
When are a nation’s security forces deemed self-reliant? Security force assistance (SFA) is one process of building or rebuilding a nation’s security forces. If the ultimate goal of SFA is producing a self-reliant force capable of responding to...
The current U.S. Army Transformation process has experienced several changes due to operational commitments in the Global War on Terror (GWOT) and different perceptions about required military capabilities among political and military authorities....
This thesis researches the theory of a "hollow force" that described the U.S. Army after the Vietnam War and determines if the theory applies to the Army today. The theory describes the conditions of a "hollow force" through seven factors: low...
This monograph examines the potential roles of indigenous forces in the transition period from decisive combat through post conflict reconstruction. More specifically, should Unconventional Warfare doctrine assess, train and develop suitable...
This monograph is a study of whether a standing rapid reaction force is viable for United Nation’s peace operations. Since the end of Cold War, UN peace operations have vastly increased in size, scope and number. There are high expectations for...
The transformation of the Army from its current “legacy” structure to the Objective Force is predicated on the realization of significant technological advances and the evolution of a “general-purpose” combat force. Today’s forces,...
Personnel procurement and organization strength plays a vital role in the principal of war “Economy of Forces”. The Department of Defense in conjunction with Congress and many other entities mandate the management of the personnel strength for...
Congress governs the United States Armed Forces by writing laws for the Department of Defense (DoD) to implement. In 1993, Congress passed a federal law banning homosexuality in the armed forces. The DoD created a policy to implement the law, but...
Many lessons from the Multinational Force and Observer (MFO) mission to the Sinai and the Multinational Force II (MNFII) mission to Lebanon are relevant for future U.S. peacekeeping operations in Israel and the Occupied Territories (OT). A final...
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), formed in 1949, provided security and defense as an organization against the threat perceived through the ideology and military power of the Soviet Union and its expansionist politics. With the...
Recent scholarly work on the history and significance of logistics suggests logistics is 90% of the business of war. Logistics enables the deployment of armies to war and their subsequent movement and sustainment during war. As such,...
The Caucasus is developing into a vital strategic region. It emerged from the Soviet Union’s shadow in 1991 and spawned wild oil and gas speculation, and U.S. policy makers developed relationships with the region’s countries as it matured....
For approximately the past ten years, the Army has been engaged in large-scale counterinsurgency campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan. These campaigns have forced the Army to reevaluate how it approaches its role in advising host nation forces. This...
Two centuries of philosophy and war have informed the latest evolution of the definitions of strategy and operational art defined in the Department of Defense's Joint Publication 1-02. By harmonizing the relationship between strategy and...
Recent operations have forced the United States Army to re-examine the “art” of fighting insurgencies. Although these types of operations are not new to the Army, World War II and the subsequent Cold War diminished any skill or institutional...
This study examines the potential utilization of Special Operations Forces (SOF) in support of a concept called “Counter-Special Purpose Force (SPF)”—defined by the author as the employment of military or paramilitary forces to find, defeat,...