James Hasik: The Air Mobility Obsession: Why the US Army Should Stand Down its Three “Airborne” Divisions

About

James Hasik is a political economist studying innovation, industry, and international security. He serves as a senior fellow in the Defense Technology Initiative of the Center for European Policy Analysis, and as a management advisor to defense industries and ministries. Since September 2001, he has been studying global security challenges and the economic enterprises that provide the tools to address them. He earned his BA in history and physics at Duke University, his MBA in business economics at the University of Chicago, and his PhD in public policy at the University of Texas at Austin.

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16 February 2023

The Air Mobility Obsession: Why the US Army Should Stand Down its Three “Airborne” Divisions

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.

Download Air Mobility Obsession

Posted at 17:02 | Permalink

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