Airborne Assault Forces: The Most Expedient and Practical Forcible Entry Response Available in Today's Contemporary Operating Environment.

摘要

The 21st Century operating environment is shaped by many symmetric and asymmetric threats, factors, and actors. Today's military force needs to remain agile, rapidly deployable, and capable of accomplishing the Nation's objectives anywhere in the world. Given the reality of the United States' fiscal constraints, political and military leaders will continue to reduce the Nation's global footprint with the intent of maintaining global influence. The United States must maintain the ability to rapidly deploy to address future global challenges. Faced with a reduced number of forward-deployed bases and an uncertain security environment, a joint force commander is left with two options when required to gain entry into a contested foreign territory: airborne assault or amphibious assault insertion. This paper evaluates these two means of forcible entry based on the operational factors of time, space, and force. The comparative analysis is used to determine the advantages and disadvantages that each option presents to the joint force commander when forced to respond with a swift U.S. military intervention. Case studies of OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM, OPERATION JUST CAUSE, and OPERATION UPHOLD DEMOCRACY are discussed to further illustrate the unique capabilities and advantages that airborne forces can provide to the joint force commander. In today's uncertain environment, the airborne assault force provides the joint force commander with the most expedient and practical forcible entry response available.