FORGING CIVIL-MILITARY COOPERATION FOR COMMUNITY REGENERATION Mr. President, the end of the cold war has created a number of opportunities, as well as challenges, for our nation. The collapse of the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union give us a chance to make significant reductions in the size of our military forces and our defense budget. Recent nuclear weapons agreements have diffused a portion of the world's arsenal of weapons of mass destruction. But tremors of instability and outright regional conflict are continuing to shake many parts of the globe. These volatile situations, coupled with the changing nature of the world's balance of power, mean that we must still maintain a strong, and perhaps, even more flexible military force. Over the next few years, the nation will continue the debate over what size the base force should be, what roles and missions it should undertake, and how it should be structured. There is considerable uncertainty at this time on just what kind of a military capability we will need in the future and what size force will be adequate. We are leaving a security era that demanded large numbers of U.S. combat forces stationed overseas or operating in forward locations at high states of combat readiness in order to confront a large and quantitatively superior opponent. That era has ended. We are entering a security era that permits a shift in our overall strategy more toward smaller force levels, with fewer overseas deployments and lower operating tempos. The exact size and organization of this future base force is still taking shape. It will be a smaller force than we have today. We all know that. No doubt it will be smaller. It will have to be just as professional-and even more flexible. The force will still need a basic amount of combat and operations training to sustain maximum proficiency and as well as readiness. But there will be a much greater opportunity than in the past to use military assets and training to assist civilian efforts in critical domestic needs. Recent events in Los Angeles, with their terrible cost in life and property, should remind us all that our society faces numerous domestic challenges that in many respects are as daunting as any potential foreign threat to our national security. While the Soviet threat is gone, we are still battling at home drugs, poverty, urban decay, lack of self esteem, unemployment, and racism. The military certainly cannot solve all of these problems and I don't stand here today proposing any magic solution to the numerous problems we have at home. But I am totally convinced that there is a proper and important role the Armed Forces can play in addressing many of these pressing issues. I believe we can re-invigorate the military's spectrum of capabilities to address such needs as deteriorating infrastructure, the lack of role models for tens of thousands, indeed hundreds of thousands if not millions, of young people, limited training and education opportunities for the disadvantaged, and serious health and nutrition problems facing many of our citizens, particularly our children. Back to Table of Contents Domestic Missions for the Armed Forces Back to SSI List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1993 by US Army War College. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com