Organizing For Coalition Warfare

While the Soviet armed forces are justly regarded as the greatest threat to Western Europe, NATO military planners must consider the strength and the role of the armies of the non-Soviet Warsaw Pact (NSWP) nations in any future war. In this study, conclusions regarding the military value, employment, and control of NSWP forces are drawn from the historical record, Soviet doctrine, current published orders of battle, Warsaw Pact military exercises, and the author's experience in the Polish army. After describing Soviet and Warsaw Pact military doctrines, the author examines the quantitative and qualitative role of the NSWP forces, their armaments, and the problems of Pact interoperability. Finally, he analyzes in detail the wartime operational role of the East European armies, including their echelonment, operational utility and tasks, strategic/operational grouping, and operational autonomy.

In the aftermath of the Cold War, the world political environment has been, and continues to be, in constant change with evolving formats and cause-effect relationships. But "change," in and of itself, is not a new phenomenon. More accurately for today, it is the rate of change and the lack of accurate lead indicators (i.e., the unpredictability) that complicate the coalition picture in the 21st Century. The results are, in general, short agendas with narrowly focused objectives and limited commitments. This paper identifies some of the issues associated with coalition building and coordination and reports on two effective but distinct methods of meeting national requirements in this arena. Originally, the intent was to compare the US Central Command's Coalition Coordination Center (CCC) in Tampa with the Multinational Planning Augmentation Team (MPAT) approach in US Pacific Command's area of operation but a direct comparison was abandoned because these are simply unlike entities. Additionally, the report avoids repeating, at least in detail, the information already in print or available from US Central Command and US Pacific Command. There is, however, much to discuss regarding how the two commands are approaching similar problems in dissimilar environments.

A description of wartime national planning and military strategy as they affected the missions and dispositions of the U.S. Army in the defensive phase of coalition warfare.