Army Expeditionary Force: A Model for the Next Century of Warfare

This study examines the potential for changing the force-structure of the U.S. Army from a forward-deployed model with units permanently stationed overseas to an expeditionary model. The expeditionary model would station all units within the United States and deploy formations overseas on a rotational basis or crisis situation as the national leadership requires. First, the study analyzes the contemporary strategic environment, composed primarily of the global threats to national interest and the national political guidance to the military. Second, the study uses a business model for organizational effectiveness to compare the forward-deployed model of the U.S. Army to the expeditionary model of the U.S. Marine Corps. This business model provides a framework to examine and determine if there is a potential difference in the two models with respect to organizational, or unit, effectiveness. In the course of the analysis, the study determines that the expeditionary model has the potential to produce consistently more effective units in an evolving strategic situation. Therefore, it concludes that the U.S. Army should adopt an expeditionary force structure to function more effectively in the future operational environment.

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