Year: 2003
Type: article
Abstract: T he Army exists to win the nation's wars.That is and always should be its principal mission.The Army's transformation White Paper, "Concepts of the Objective Force," states, "The Army must remain optimized for major theater war," 1 with the presumption that this theater of war is overseas.But the Army has other priorities as well.The preamble to the Constitution tells us that among our founding principles, our government exists to "insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity."This statement of existential purpose implies a domestic emphasis-that we must be prepared to fight significantly different kinds of wars from what we think of today.Even after 11 September 2001, the modern concept of war for most American soldiers is something that is fought elsewhere for national security reasons, does not directly affect domestic safety, and does not affect the lives of the average citizens (other than our national preoccupation with 24-hour news stations).Yet homeland security is now a major focus of the nation, the Administration, and Congress, and the Army will play a major role in it.This new security situation, dominated not just by the need to project exceptionally lethal force overseas, but also to assist in homeland security, will force change on the military.While once a significant mission of the Army, protecting US citizens from attacks at home has not been a major concern for generations, and the Army has not organized or actively planned for this mission in recent memory.Yet the events of 11 September 2001 have caused us to recognize that many of the asymmetric attacks we prepare to confront in distant combat 36 Parameters
Author: Terrence K. Kelly
Language: English
Topic: Military and Defense Studies
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
Funders: Office of Science, U.S. Military Academy
OpenAlex ID: W184210334