The Army Command Post and Defense Reshaping 1987-1997

243 Pages·2008·0.42 MB·English

by  Sherry

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The Army Command Post and
Defense Reshaping
1987–1997
by
Mark D. Sherry
CENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY
UNITED STATES ARMY
WASHINGTON, D.C., 2008
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sherry, Mark D., 1953–
The Army command post and defense reshaping 1987–1997 / by Mark D.
Sherry.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. United States. Army—Reorganization—History—20th century. 2. United
States. Army—History—20th century. I. Title.
UA25.S544 2008
355.6’867097309049—dc22 2007052027
CMH Pub 40–4–1
First Printing
Contents
Page
Foreword ............................................ vii
Preface ............................................. ix
The Author........................................... xii
Chapter
1. Introduction ..................................... 1
The Situation Before the Goldwater-Nichols Act ....... 2
2. Antaeus and the New Paradigm, 1987–1989 ............ 15
The Strategic Setting After the Goldwater-Nichols Act .. 16
Readiness and Force Modernization Issues........... 20
Catalysts for Change ............................ 21
Antaeus ....................................... 24
Contingency Operations.......................... 32
3. The Cold War Ends, 1989–1990...................... 37
Quicksilver .................................... 38
Vanguard...................................... 41
The Base Force................................. 45
4. Toward a New Strategy, 1989–1990................... 59
The Defense Management Review .................. 59
The Gulf War................................... 63
Development of a New Strategy .................... 66
Reconstituting the Army .......................... 71
Base Realignment and Closure..................... 73
HQDA Redesign, 1992 ........................... 75
The 1992 Roles and Missions Study................. 78
5. Change from Above ............................... 81
The Bottom-Up Review, 1993...................... 81
The Commission on Roles and Missions, 1994–1995.... 91
iii
Chapter Page
6. The Army Responds............................... 103
New Contingencies.............................. 103
The Modern Louisiana Maneuvers.................. 108
Force XXI ..................................... 111
7. The Quadrennial Defense Review, 1996–1997 .......... 119
Changing National Military Strategy................ 120
Army Preparations for the Quadrennial Defense
Review ..................................... 122
Joint Staff Quadrennial Defense Review Plans ........ 130
The Review Begins .............................. 133
Results........................................ 141
8. Two Final Reviews, 1997–1998...................... 151
The National Defense Panel....................... 151
The Task Force on Defense Reform ................. 159
9. Conclusion ...................................... 165
Goldwater-Nichols .............................. 165
Early Reshaping ................................ 167
Toward a New Strategy........................... 173
Process and Progress ............................ 174
Toward a New Century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Epilogue........................................... 179
Appendixes
A. Project Vanguard’s Major Command Options............. 186
B. The Road to the Quadrennial Defense Review ............ 191
Select Bibliography .................................... 193
Abbreviations and Acronyms............................. 207
Index ............................................. 213
Charts
No.
1. Organization of the Department of Defense, July 1984...... f. 2
2. The Marshall-Collins Plan for a Unified Department
of the Armed Forces, 19 October 1945.............. 4
3. Organization of the Department of the Army, October 1985.. f. 5
iv
No. Page
4. Conceptual Organization of a Reestablished Continental
Army Command............................... 43
5. Organization of the Department of the Army,
September 1991 ............................... f. 60
6. Organization of the Army Service Forces (ASF),
15 August 1944................................ f. 61
7. The Structure of Army Organization in the 1890s.......... 62
8. Office of the Secretary of Defense/Joint Chiefs of Staff
Organization for Quadrennial Defense Review,
December 1996................................ 125
9. Army Organization for Quadrennial Defense Review,
March 1997................................... f. 126
Table
Proposed Reductions in Force: A Comparison Between Studies.. 85
Illustrations
Army Chief of Staff General John A. Wickham, Jr., and Defense
Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger ................... 9
Army Secretary John O. Marsh, Jr. ........................ 11
General Wickham Passes the Army Flag to Secretary Marsh
During Change-of-Stewardship Ceremonies .......... 12
Army Chief of Staff General Carl E. Vuono ................. 16
Lt. Gen. John W. Foss .................................. 26
Joint Chiefs Chairman Admiral William J. Crowe, Jr........... 38
Joint Chiefs Chairman General Colin L. Powell.............. 39
Army Director of Program Analysis and Evaluation Maj. Gen.
William H. Reno................................ 40
Army Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Plans
Maj. Gen. John R. Greenway ...................... 41
Defense Secretary Richard B. Cheney Hosts an Armed Forces Full
Honor Arrival Ceremony at the Pentagon............. 46
Army Senior Leaders Receive an Update Briefing Overlooking the
Crisis Action Team in the Army Operations Center..... 66
Les Aspin Takes the Oath of Office as Secretary of Defense .... 72
Army Secretary Michael P. W. Stone Swearing in General
Gordon R. Sullivan as Army Chief of Staff ........... 76
Under Secretary of the Army John W. Shannon .............. 77
General Dennis J. Reimer’s Swearing-in Ceremony as Army
Chief of Staff................................... 78
v
Page
Lt. Gen. John Costello.................................. 93
General John M. Shalikashvili Being Sworn in as Chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff ............................. 95
Togo D. West, Jr., Being Sworn in as Secretary of the Army .... 101
A Pentagon Press Briefing Being Held on Operation
RestoRe Hope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Army Vice Chief of Staff General John H. Tilelli, Jr. .......... 112
Defense Secretary William S. Cohen Hosts an Armed Forces Full
Honor Arrival Ceremony ......................... 124
Assistant Vice Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Jay M. Garner.......... 126
John J. Hamre Being Sworn in as Deputy Secretary of Defense.. 161
Illustrations courtesy of the following sources: pp. 66 and 93,
Department of the Army; and pp. 9, 38, 124, 161, Department of Defense.
All other illustrations from the files of the U.S. Army Military History
Institute.
vi
Foreword
The end of the Cold War initiated major changes in the global secu-
rity environment that the United States could not ignore. These changes
affected security requirements, forces, and missions that had guided
the country since the end of World War II. Another “New Look” was
needed, one that recognized the uncertainty inherent in the absence of a
single rival power. Domestic pressures for a “peace dividend” provided
additional impetus for a comprehensive restructuring of the nation’s
defenses. Army leaders responded almost immediately, agreeing that a
more flexible, more technology-capable ground force was needed, one
able to react to a much broader variety of threats and contingencies. But
deciding how that goal could be best realized would prove illusive.
Dr. Mark Sherry’s The Army Command Post and Defense Reshaping,
1987–1997, examines this tumultuous period in depth. The author
relates how the efforts of Army leaders to develop options for change
were soon overtaken by actions of the Office of the Secretary of Defense
and Joint Chiefs of Staff regarding Army size, structure, and missions.
Strengthened by the 1986 Goldwater-Nichols reorganization act, the
Joint Chiefs led the way, exerting an unprecedented degree of power in
reshaping Defense Department policies and postures. Sherry first consid-
ers the Army’s studies and recommendations before tackling the higher
level initiatives that followed, culminating in the Bottom-up Review and
finally the first Quadrennial Defense Review. These Defense Department
studies quickly overshadowed all Army reshaping efforts and seized
the initiative for defense transformation. One result was the reduction
by 1997 of the Army’s active duty strength by over one-third with few
substantive changes in its missions or structure. Another was the greatly
reduced size and authority of the Army Staff and Secretariat, undermin-
ing their ability to define the size, shape, and nature of the ground forces
that they were expected to provide to the combatant commanders.
Ten years later, these measures remain controversial. Whether
the Army’s ground forces are large enough and properly structured to
address the full range of strategic requirements is still a question mark.
So, too, is the size and shape of its generating base—its schools, instal-
lations, and administrative commands—and the Pentagon-based “Army
Command Post” that oversees the entire effort. This work is thus not
intended to end what is likely to be a continuing debate over national
vii
strategy and how best to implement it, especially from the viewpoint
of land forces and the senior service. Instead, The Army Command Post
and Defense Reshaping is meant to clarify that debate and better prepare
those who are taking part in it and who in the end will determine the
future of the Army, the soldiers, and their ability to accomplish the tasks
they are assigned to fulfill.
Washington, D.C. JEFFREY J. CLARKE
20 February 2008 Chief of Military History
viii