Ground Forces for a Rapidly Employable Joint Task Force: First-week Capabilities for Short-warning Conflicts

A key element of the Department of Defense’s effort to transform the force is developing capabilities for rapidly employable joint task forces (JTFs). In many plausible military interventions, long-range precision fires alone wouldn’t be sufficient and the JTFs would need ground-maneuver forces that could be employed within days of a decision to take action. A first, provisional version of such capability could be achieved in the near to mid term by using existing airlift and ship-based prepostioning and by zer-basing. This monograph recommends a three-component first-week ground force of Army and Marine units that would incorporate modern doctrinal concepts emphasizing agility, dispersal, networking, and precision fires.