The spectrum of 21st century operations demands land forces in joint, multinational, and interagency formations for a variety of missions extending from humanitarian assistance and disaster relief to peacekeeping, peace enforcement, and winning major theater wars--our non-negotiable contract with the American people. In October 1999, senior Army leaders announced a new Vision to enable the Army to better meet these diverse, complex demands. That Vision, in its entirety, has been widely disseminated and is available on the Army homepage at http://www.army.mil/armyvision . The Vision's goal is to ensure that the Army fulfills its Title 10 responsibilities in continuously meeting the NMS. To do this will require the Army to transform itself into a full spectrum force more capable of dominating at every point on the spectrum of operations. This Objective Force will meet the challenges of the 21st century by providing the Nation with an Army that is more responsive, deployable, agile, versatile, lethal, survivable, and sustainable. This force must be capable of reversing the conditions of human suffering rapidly and resolving conflicts decisively.

These characteristics of the Objective Force are complementary features that together produce an overall capability greater than the individual capabilities they describe. The characteristics arise from the Vision's goal and the likely shape of the future international security environment. In turn, they provide the analytical foundation for developing the concepts, doctrine, and systems that will constitute the Objective Force.

The Objective Force must be responsive to allow the Army to meet frequent contingency requirements with any element of the force. To be responsive requires the ability to put forces where needed on the ground, supported by air and naval forces, to directly affect the outcome of the situation or crisis at hand within hours of a decision. The forces deployed must be prepared to accomplish their mission regardless of the environment, the nature or scope of the proposed operation, or other commitments. They should have a demonstrated capability to deter the prudent adversary, as well as to influence and shape the outcome of the crisis. If required, they should have the ability to employ force from low to high-intensity. Responsiveness applies to more than just operational forces; the entire mobilization process must be responsive in order to ensure the availability of the entire force in a timely manner.

To achieve this responsiveness, Objective Force units must be deployable. These units must be capable of rapid strategic movement to create the opportunity to avert conflict through deterrence and confront potential adversaries before they can achieve their goals. The Objective Force requirement is to have a combat brigade on the ground within 96 hours after liftoff, a division within 120 hours, and five divisions within 30 days. Within a theater of operations, Army forces must be able to reposition rapidly to create and exploit advantage. The Army must reduce the size of its systems to attain the desired level of strategic and intra-theater deployability.

Because of the broad range of missions that will be assigned to U.S. forces, often in highly volatile situations, Army forces must be able to shift intensity of operations without augmentation, a break in contact, or additional training. Today's forces possess the agility to shift seamlessly from offensive to defensive to offensive operations on the battlefield. The Objective Force must replicate that same agility in a much broader, full spectrum context within entire theaters of operation. These forces will frequently be called upon to transition from non-combat disaster relief to low-intensity contingencies to high-intensity warfighting with little or no time to change mindset or organizational design. The agility to make these transitions without losing momentum is a function of our people. The Army will develop it through leadership and training.

Versatility is closely related to agility, but it is a function of force organization and equipment. The elements of the Objective Force must be adaptive to changing situati ons and must have utility across the spectrum. This will allow the Army to respond when needed and rotate forces in and out to relieve OPTEMPO and PERSTEMPO. The frequency and duration of SSC operations leave neither the time nor the forces for overly specialized units or extensive reorganization and preparation for specific missions. The Army cannot sustain the operational and personnel tempo of the broad range of crisis response SSC operations and sustained commitments with only part of its force. Therefore, the Army must have the ability to commit all of the force in its turn, regardless of component, to meet operational demands, even if those demands are for distinct operations in different areas of the world. All Army forces must have the built-in organizational flexibility to respond.

An overwhelming ability to win through application of lethal force can frequently preclude conflict by making the adversary's potential losses disproportionate to his objectives. Lethality must be embedded in every force and unit. They must all have the ability to transition from peace to war and access joint capabilities easily without a break in momentum. Even in a seemingly benign environment, our forces cannot ignore the possibility of a chance encounter with hostile elements, whether because of a sudden, unforeseen change in the situation or from radical factions determined to undermine the peace. The consequences of the inability to apply appropriate lethal effects are not just unnecessary loss of life, but could include significant political and operational changes in the environment. Furthermore, lethality signals to our adversaries the potential consequences to them of their willingness to escalate the conflict.

As our forces continue to operate in harm's way, it is crucial to their confidence that we take all possible measures to protect the force and ensure its survival. Survivability also affects the perceptions of our adversaries about their ability to fight and win against U.S. forces. But the survivability of the Objective Force must extend beyond combat operations across the full spectrum of operations, and it must address current and emerging asymmetric capabilities. To meet these challenges, the Army must have modern equipment that incorporates new technologies to meet mission requirements, counter emerging threat capabilities, and reduce the risks of fratricide.

Our forces must retain the capability to continue operations longer than any adversary we confront. This is a critical aspect of equipment superiority. Sustainability is directly linked to responsiveness and deployability. Careful planning and discipline is essential to deploy only those forces and systems needed to ensure dominance at every point on the spectrum of operations. Sustainment requirements will be reduced, where possible, by minimizing forces deployed into the area of operations through split basing and the use of technology to provide reach-back capability. Host nation and allied support for our forces can also reduce sustainment requirements, but the Army must be able to operate unilaterally if necessary. Consequently we must continue to find ways to exploit advanced technologies and reduce the logistics footprint and related costs of our support structure.

As it transforms itself into the Objective Force with the characteristics described above, the Army will remain a values-based force that derives its greatness from its people. We will continue to attract, train, motivate, and retain the most competent and dedicated people in the Nation to fuel our ability to be persuasive in peace and invincible in war. We will invest in training, educating, and equipping our soldiers while providing them and their families with the well being necessary to make the Army a rewarding and fulfilling profession. Providing our soldiers and leaders with a strong physical, mental, and moral foundation will enable them to act decisively while conducting full spectrum operations in the complex environments they will surely face.

In sum, the Vision points to a synergy that will revolutionize the effectiveness of the Army in order to match its capabilities with the Nation's strategic requirements. If technology permits, the Army intends to reduce or even eliminate the current distinctions between light and heavy units. Anticipated technological improvements will enable new organizational and operational concepts that optimize the employment of Army and joint capabilities across the full spectrum of operations. The versatility inherent in these organizations will be magnified through the training and leadership of our high quality men and women, who will be prepared to transition from disaster relief to low-intensity contingencies to high-intensity warfighting without pause. Applying the Objective Force design across the Army will improve our overall capability, helping alleviate OPTEMPO and PERSTEMPO challenges and enhance the Nation's capacity to sustain long-term commitments while responding to frequent contingencies.