Small Wars Journal

Nathan Freier on U.S. defense policy

Fri, 05/27/2011 - 11:32am
Nathan Freier, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a retired U.S. Army officer, recently wrote two essays on U.S. defense policy.

First, Freier discusses what the death of Osama bin Laden might mean for U.S. defense policy. Perhaps not as much as some might think.

An excerpt:

[T]hough forcible regime change might have come off the table, the potential for large-scale irregular warfights has not. There is a high probability that U.S. forces will be needed to defeat a range of irregular and hybrid challengers and disrupt hostile networks. This means that U.S. ground troops might again be required to deploy to a foreign theater by the tens of thousands, engage in intense combat action on arrival, and then stay in place for some period of opposed stabilization. Such operations will not necessarily be confined to the Middle East or be undertaken in response to terrorist threats alone.

Second, Freier asserts that the latest version of the Pentagon's Unified Command Plan (UCP) is a missed opportunity. Freier says:

The most recent UCP was a missed opportunity. Significant change has already come to DoD. More changes—likely smaller budgets and fewer forces—appear on the horizon. However, with the exception JFCOM's closure, no substantial change to COCOM structure appears under consideration. This is puzzling given the current SECDEF's desire to wring further efficiencies out of the tail without sacrificing the tooth. The new SECDEF and CJCS would be well advised to make UCP transformation a priority. With one war ending and another headed in that direction, there is an opportunity for fundamental UCP change at very low risk.

Freier goes on to recommend some mergers and consolidations in the regional commands.

Click here to read these essays:

Bin Laden's Gone: What Now for Defense Policy?

The 2011 Unified Command Plan - A Missed Opportunity?