Geo-Environmental Change and the United States Military: How History Can Inform Future Arctic Operations

• Main Author: Spencer, David K
• Other Authors: ARMY COMMAND AND GENERAL STAFF COLL FORT LEAVENWORTH KS SCHOOL OF ADVANCED MILITARY STUDIES
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2012
• Subjects: Humanities and History; Geography; Military Forces and Organizations; Military Operations; Strategy and Tactics; *ARCTIC REGIONS; *INDIAN OCEAN; *MILITARY FORCES(UNITED STATES); *MILITARY OPERATIONS; *PHILIPPINES; *RISK; CASE STUDIES; CLIMATE CHANGE; COLD WAR; HISTORY; LESSONS LEARNED; MILITARY DOCTRINE; MILITARY FACILITIES; MILITARY PLANNING; THREATS; *GEO-ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE; *ASIA-PACIFIC REGION; *MILITARY RESPONSIBILITY; *OPERATIONAL RISK; POST-SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR; POST-PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN WAR; POST-WORLD WAR I ERA; EAST OF SUEZ AREA; NIXON DOCTRINE; POST-ARAB-ISRAELI WAR; REVOLUTION IN MILITARY AFFAIRS; Arctic; Indian; Pacific; Climate change
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA566627; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA566627

This monograph investigates the hypothesis that increases in U.S. military responsibilities in geographic regions (with limited resources) -- or geo-environmental changes -- lead to an increase in operational risk. It does so by analyzing three case studies. The first two case studies are historical, feature the U.S. military, occur for the most part after 1900, and focus on areas dominated by seas, oceans, and littorals. The first historical case study scrutinizes the increase in U.S. military responsibilities in the Asia-Pacific region after the United States acquired the Philippines from Spain in 1898. The second historical case study examines the increase in U.S. military responsibilities in the Indian Ocean region from the 1950s to the 1980s after the British announced their intention to retrench from their colonial empire in the East of Suez area. The lessons learned and understanding gained from these cases studies is then applied to a case study examining the Arctic today. The monograph analyzes these increases in U.S. military responsibility through five variables -- Doctrine, Organization, Technology, Threat, and Facilities -- to determine their overall effect on operational risk. The conclusion is that the Facilities variable is the most important to consider in addressing operational risk incurred through geo-environmental change. The original document contains color images.