Force Planning Assumptions: New Assumptions -- New Forces

Download or read book Force Planning Assumptions: New Assumptions -- New Forces written by and published by . This book was released on 1992 with total page 26 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The rapid demise of the Soviet threat has called into question the need for the United States to plan and size its military force structure requirements based upon specifically identifies threats to national security interests. However, not everyone agrees that military forces can be properly sized without using a realistic and credible notion of the threat as a framework. The debate revolves around two contending views. One postulates that specific threat-based planning is essential, for it leads to a more objective measure of how much is enough for the protection of US vital interests. The second postulates that in today's world and the rapidly changing strategic environment there are really no clear threats to US interests other than the unknown and the uncertain. Thus military forces must be prepared to respond to unanticipated crises. While each is a valid argurnent for force planning purposes they both are, in many respects, backward looking in that the prime driver is the historical knowledge of where we were -- the wars we have already fought and the surprises of unpreparedness -- not where we are going. It is therefore, possible to suggest yet a third approach to force planning that is more forward looking and tied more directly to the US view of the future world and US long-range objectives.