Study: Defend U.S. Soil First

America's military must make defense of U.S. territory its primary mission and sharpen its ability to counter surprise attack as it grapples with foes both old and new, a Pentagon study says.

The military's every-four-year study of strategy and force structure, known as the "Quadrennial Defense Review," once had been expected to call for sweeping changes in the size and scope of the nation's military forces and weaponry in line with early Bush administration pledges to reshape the armed forces.

However, in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorism attacks, the report avoids such major moves.

It does reflect adjustments in a post-Cold War world view: It looks to put more warships in the Western Pacific and shift Marine Corps equipment from the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf areas. It foresees placing a newly fashioned Army brigade in Europe by 2007 and enhancing ground forces in the Persian Gulf.

Overall, the report echoes Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's concept of a more agile military as it seeks to deter terrorism and surprise attacks on the United States. And it predicts America's opponents will continue to use the most unusual tactics, as suicide hijackers did in the Sept. 11 airliner strikes on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

"It is not enough to plan for large conventional wars in distant theaters. Instead, the United States must identify the capabilities required to deter and defeat adversaries who will rely on surprise, deception and asymmetric warfare to achieve their objectives," the report said.

The report said the United States is a global power with "important geopolitical interests" everywhere. But, as expected, the report drops the Cold War requirement that the military be able to conduct two major wars at the same time, such as in the Persian Gulf and on the Korean Peninsula.

It "places new emphasis on the unique operational demands associated with the defense of the United States and restores the defense of the United States as the department's primary mission," the report says.

The study refers to the current Navy force of 12 aircraft carriers, 10 active Army divisions, 46 active Air Force fighter squadrons and three Marine Corps expeditionary forces as the baseline for the nation's major fighting force.

Earlier this summer, Rumsfeld was said to be looking toward eliminating two of the Army's 10 active-duty divisions, one of the Navy's 12 carrier battle groups and one of the Air Force's 12 active fighter wings.

Over the past 10 years, the force has shrunk to its current 1.4 million men and women from 2 million. The last time the force was cut substantially was when former Defense Secretary Les Aspin reduced it from about 1.6 million in 1994 to the current level.

Major emphasis is placed on bolstering the military's ability to gather intelligence, survey its enemies, maintain operations in space and build a missile defense, all long-argued positions held by Rumsfeld.

Above all, the force must grapple with uncertainty.

"We cannot and will not know precisely where and when ... America will come under attack. ... We should try mightily to avoid surprise, but we must also learn to expect it," the report states.

America's defense strategy should "embrace uncertainty and contend with surprise, a strategy premised on the idea that to be effective abroad, America must be safe at home," it says.

The two-war policy is replaced with goals that aim to assure America's allies, dissuade adversaries from threatening operations and deter threats to U.S. interests. The new policy also specifies a goal of "decisively defeating any adversary if deterrence fails."

Asked at a Pentagon briefing why a new focus on homeland defense was necessary, Defense Department spokesman Adm. Craig Quigley said, "Since the fall of the Soviet Union, there's been presumed to be no real threat to the homeland of the United States."

That changed Sept. 11, Quigley noted.

Since 1997, Congress has required the Pentagon to re-evaluate periodically its national security strategy and the force structure needed to carry it out. Asked why the current study did not go into the detail of earlier reports, Quigley said: "Different administrations, different approaches."

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