Securing the Homeland - How Should the Army Fulfill its Role

摘要

Homeland security as defined within the existing security strategy framework requires the United States its territory its people and its interests to be adequately protected. Leaders within the United States have for decades attempted militarily to ensure national security through forward basing and power projection delegating homeland security to a secondary role. However the events of 11 September 2001 may have permanently changed how we must think about protection of the homeland. The concepts of homeland security and homeland defense are extremely complex intertwined and demand coordinated use of all the instruments of national power both at home and abroad. Within this context there is a fundamental question that remains unanswered. How should the Army fulfill its homeland security role while continuing to meet the requirements of forward presence global engagement and war fighting. This paper addresses this issue by presenting the different definitions of homeland security and homeland defense analyzing current security strategy documents and examining the Department of Defense's current force sizing construct. The paper also reviews the components of the Army and what they have contributed to homeland security since 9/11 considers various recommendations by prominent think tanks and finally proposes a course of action for the future. It considers recommendations by the Hart-Rudman Commission the Gilmore Commission the Heritage Foundation a RAND Corporation Study and the Defense Science Board. After comparing and contrasting these alternatives the author recommends that the Army give the Army National Guard the primary responsibility for homeland security dedicate twenty regionally focused Army National Guard battalion size units to homeland security and dedicate regional United States Army Reserve units with inherent homeland security capabilities. This approach ensures that the nation's first priority of homeland security is adequately resourced.