Never interested in avoiding controversy, I inveigh with a working paper on one of the biggest problems in military force structures today: adherence to obsolete concepts. Here is the abstract:
The US Army today maintains more than three divisions of troops ostensibly devoted to two inessential and hazardous missions, and with inconsistent capability. As the recent experience of the Russo-Ukrainian War has made yet more clear, mass insertions by parachute or helicopter are things of the past. At the same time, the Army cannot recruit enough troops to fill the ranks of its desired force structure. It is therefore time to do away with the three “airborne” divisions—11th, 82nd, and 101st—and redeploy their troop strength to more pressing missions.
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