COVID-19 Response Update: March 16-27
A roundup of the developments in the military’s response to COVID-19 from March 16-27 by the CSIS International Security Program.
Topic: Forces
Read the most recent CSIS research on U.S. military force structure.
Bombshell Podcast – This is Fine
Kathleen Hicks joins Loren, Radha, and Erin for an all-COVID-19 episode, starting with potential contributions by DoD to addressing this crisis. They explore different angles of the global pandemic, including how it’s impacting other ongoing international events, the economy, and domestic politics.
Regaining Lost Ground: Defense Support in the Coronavirus Pandemic
Even with its late start, the Defense Department can provide valuable support to whole of nation coronavirus response efforts, write Kathleen Hicks and Joseph Federici.
Use of Military Forces in the COVID-19 Emergency
With COVID-19 sweeping across the United States, CSIS’s Mark Cancian discusses what the U.S. military can, and cannot, do as part of the response.
How Coronavirus Could Hurt U.S. Military Readiness
So far the effects of COVID-19 on the military have been modest, but if current trends continue, the effect on military readiness will be devastating.
Bad Idea: Management Jointness in DoD
Jointness, meaning cross-service cooperation, is generally a good thing. But one can have too much of a good thing, and the Pentagon has too much jointness. Jointness in organizing military operations makes so much sense that the concept is overprescribed. Enhancing interservice competition for resources and relevance would encourage military innovation, civilian control, and economies in the vast Pentagon budget.
Bad Ideas in National Security Podcast
In this episode of The Truth of the Matter podcast, host Andrew Schwartz welcomes Kathleen Hicks, Andrew Hunter, and Todd Harrison from the CSIS International Security Program to discuss the Bad Ideas in National Security series. In addition to analyzing their own pieces, they nominate their frontrunners for what might be considered the “worst” bad idea.
Bad Idea: Designating Space Command as a Geographic Command
U.S. Space Command was recently re-established as a geographic command. But the responsibilities and missions required of Space Command are a better fit for a functional command focused on interoperability, support, and coordination with the other combatant commands and military services.
Bad Idea: Assuming the Small Wars Era is Over
The revived interest in great power politics comes with an important, if oft unstated, corollary: the problem of small wars is now of secondary importance. But the U.S. must be vigilant against focusing solely on a conventional, symmetric future conflict and would be wise to acknowledge the coexistence of multiple categories of dangerous actors.
Bad Idea: Maintaining Small Fleets of Air Force Aircraft
Small fleets of aircraft are eroding the purchasing power of the Air Force and limiting its ability to grow or even sustain the size of its current force.