Restore our military’s global response capacity

Earlier this month, our Armed Forces concluded a very important multi-national and joint exercise at Fort Bliss, Texas, which assessed and demonstrated our forcible entry capabilities. It was part of a larger effort to fully restore the Global Response Force (GRF) capabilities – our nation’s contingency formation prepared to go anywhere on little to no-notice in response to crisis.

Our nation’s general approach to maintaining stability and deterring conflict is based upon the principle of “Peace through Strength.” This approach provided the framework to win the Cold War without major conflict and forged the overmatch in our armed forces that decisively won the Persian Gulf War in 1991. A key facet of this approach has been the ability to “strategically maneuver” – the ability to deliver trained and ready formations anywhere on no-notice to compel would-be adversaries to accept the demands of our diplomats.

{mosads}Today, as we reset the force after nearly 15 years of persistent conflict, it’s paramount that we reassert deterrence by restoring the capabilities of the nation’s GRF. The Fort Bliss exercise, on the heels of a similar event at the National Training Center in August, demonstrated in particular the importance of airborne operations as a part of the GRF’s Joint Forcible Entry capability. The GRF trains continuously to maintain its readiness, but also to validate new concepts and technologies designed to improve its capability in areas such as ground mobility and mission command, both while flying to the objective and once on the ground. Towards that end, this Joint Exercise at Ft. Bliss was an important step forward.  

With a fully capable GRF that is routinely exercised in front of worldwide audiences, our diplomats are in a stronger position to resolve emerging crisis through diplomacy. When our diplomats are equipped with the real threat of a lethal, agile and rapidly deployable GRF, the vanguard of U.S. military campaign forces, would-be adversaries are more disposed to accept our terms in negotiations. This was exactly the case in Haiti in 1994 when, faced with U.S. Army paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Divisions forces in the air and U.S. Marines afloat just off shore, Haitian dictator Jean-Bertrand Aristide agreed to the demands of our negotiators and stepped down from power.  

While this recent joint exercise was a success, much more needs to be done to put our Nation’s GRF and joint forcible entry package on firm footing. Over my time on the House Armed Services Committee I’ve steadfastly advocated that the best way to achieve peace through strength is by building greater capacity at the joint level and concretely communicating our will to deploy it, if necessary.  This capacity and will that I mention serve as the pillars for American deterrence, allowing the U.S. to achieve peace through strength. 

Going forward, we must continue to make investments to ensure the US Air Force can quickly establish and maintain air superiority. Without maintaining our edge over our adversaries in the sky, the ability to conduct airborne and amphibious operations is nearly impossible and increases the risk for our service members. Challenges from Russia and China, with 5th generation capability, pose serious threats to our ability to rapidly gain and maintain air superiority, in addition to further complicating our ability to sustain our resources accordingly.

At the same time, we must continue to make investments to dominate the electronic warfare domain and have long-range Joint Fires capabilities like bombers and missiles. Air superiority, jamming capacity and the ability to deliver joint fires are all essential to set the conditions for GRF forcible entry operations, should they be required.

Additionally, emphasis must be placed on our means of conveyance for the GRF. C-17s and associated support aircraft like the EC-130, command and control aircraft, and amphibious assault support ships along with fleet accompaniment are all mission essential for the Nation to have a viable contingency force. Indeed, the ability to keep open critical sea lanes and re-supply from the sea and air are essential to our national security. The overall readiness of our Navy is critical to our national security.

Finally, ground forces for the GRF must be manned, equipped and trained at the highest state of readiness. While the Army’s XVIII Airborne Corps, 82nd Airborne Division and Marine Expeditionary Brigades form the nucleus of our initial entry capability.  Active Army Infantry, Armor and Stryker Brigade Combat Teams as well as combat and combat support units from across the active component, reserves and National Guard and must be manned, equipped and trained to the highest levels, remaining ready to follow within days to maintain momentum and complete operational objectives.

In the Joint Concept, these campaign forces must be sustained in order to best enable rapid and competent transition to post-hostilities, an area where we struggled in Iraq in 2003. Because Forcible Entry Operations are so complex, they require routine exercises that include participation from the entire joint and interagency planning team. Leader Development across these organizations must be a national priority. This is the only way to ensure the highest state of readiness.

Nesting the restored capabilities of the GRF as part of the joint forcible entry package, with other national security requirements such as improving our national ballistic missile defenses, protecting our cyber networks, and improving our national intelligence, will restore deterrence and revitalize our “Peace through Strength” approach. Thus, I commend the US military for its actions during the recent joint exercise. Finally, I call on my colleagues to learn more about the GRF and to track closely our efforts to restore its capabilities.

Gibson represents New York’s 19^th Congressional District and has served in the House since 2011. He sits on the Agriculture; the Armed Services; and the Small Business committees. He is a former officer in the U.S. Armey.