Bu-lat-lat (boo-lat-lat) verb: to search, probe, investigate, inquire; to unearth facts Volume III, Number 44 December 7 - 13, 2003 Quezon City, Philippines |
US
Reorganising Military Might for Service Anywhere in World BY THE Press Trust of India
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In order to strike
at terrorists or meet crises anywhere, the US military is reorganising itself,
with small forces utilising to the full its high-tech weaponry and quick
resolution of conflicts. US military commanders, working with the Pentagon's
Joint Staff, have revised plans for potential wars on the Korean peninsula, in
the West Asia, Southeast Asia, Europe, Africa and Latin America, based on the
assumptions that conflicts could be fought more quickly and with fewer American
troops than previously thought, the Washington Post reported. The
changes reflect advances in precision munitions, greater use of Special
Operations Forces, and improved coordination between air, ground and sea forces
tested in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The
scope of these plans may be gauged by the fact that according to conventional
military thinking, the war against Iraq required half a million soldiers. The US
did it with 130,000. In case of a North Korean attack on South Korea, where the
US has 37,000 troops, the new plans would allow the US to respond without
waiting for ground forces to arrive, by substituting air power for artillery and
getting critical equipment like counter-battery radars for pinpointing enemy
mortar and artillery fire ahead of the rest of their divisions, one senior Joint
Staff officer told the Post. The resulting force might not be as
"elegant" as planners would like but "it will certainly be
capable," the officer said. Iraq
and Afghanistan, said General Pace, have shown that overwhelming force can be
provided faster and with fewer individuals. General
Peter Pace, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who heads a study that
will help refine the Pentagon's war plans, said yesterday that a series of
war-gaming exercises last year, starting with the old plans for Iraq and Korea
and incorporating "about 84" scenarios, found that timelines for US
victories could be shortened significantly. As it is not possible today to
predict precisely the nature and origin of threats, more agile forces and more
access to a larger number of locations abroad would be needed. To
achieve these goals, General Pace said, the Operational availability Group has
recommended looking at building faster Navy cargo ships, providing more Air
Force cargo planes and creating modular, interchangeable Army units that would
blur the distinctions between heavy armoured divisions and light infantry
divisions. The
Pentagon is designing a dramatically changed basing strategy, with a network of
smaller outposts in Eastern Europe, Africa and elsewhere as an alternative to
the large, permanent bases in Germany and South Korea set up during the Cold
War, the Post reported. Washington, November 18, 2003 Bulatlat.com We want to know what you think of this article.
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