http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Mar2005/d20050318nms.pdfNational Military Strategy of the United States of AmericaNMSThe National Military Strategy (NMS) supports the aims of the National Security Strategy (NSS) and implements the National Defense Strategy (NDS). It describes the Armed Forces’ plan to achieve military objectives in the near term and provides the vision for ensuring they remain decisive in the future.AgilityIt is imperative that the Armed Forces retain the ability to contend with the principal characteristic of the security environment – uncertainty. Agility is the ability to rapidly deploy, employ, sustain and redeploy capabilities in geographically separated and environmentally diverse regions. As commanders conduct operations they must consider the effects of surprise and the possibility that their forces may have to transition from one type or phase of an operation to another quickly, or conduct phases simultaneously, regardless of location. Agility, as a planning principle, allows commanders to conduct simultaneous missions while retaining the ability to respond to emerging crises. Agility is key to quickly seizing the initiative across the range of military operations and ensuring the Armed Forces can act swiftly and decisively to protect US interests.DecisivenessDecisiveness allows combatant commanders to overwhelm adversaries, control situations and achieve definitive outcomes. Decisiveness requires tailored packages of joint capabilities designed to achieve specific effects and accomplish objectives. Achieving decisiveness may not require large force deployments but rather employing capabilities in innovative ways. Transforming the Armed Forces’ capacity to mass effects while retaining the ability to mass forces, if needed, is key to achieving decisiveness. By focusing on decisive outcomes, combatant commanders can more precisely define the effects they must generate and determine the capabilities they require.IntegrationCommanders must ensure military activities are integrated effectively with the application of other instruments of national and international power to provide focus and unity of effort. Integration focuses on fusing and synchronizing military operations among the Services, other government agencies, the commercial sector, non-governmental organizations and those of partners abroad. Integration does not preclude the unilateral use of force, but rather seeks to ensure unity of effort and maximize the contribution of partners. Enabling multinational partners through security cooperation and other engagement activities enhances the ability of the Armed Forces to not only prevent conflict and deter aggression but also supports combatant commanders’ plans to quickly undertake operations over great distances and in sometimes overlapping conflicts.AProtect the United StatesToday, our first priority is to protect the United States. Joint forces help to secure the United States from direct attack through military activities overseas, planning and execution of homeland defense and support to civil authorities. Our experience in the WOT reinforces the fact that protecting the Nation and its global interests requires more than passive defensive measures. The threats posed by terrorist groups and rogue states, especially those that gain access to WMD/E, mandate an active defense-in-depth. Achieving this objective requires actions to counter threats overseas and close to their source; to secure our air, sea, space and land territorial approaches; and at home to defend against direct attacks. When directed, the Armed Forces provide military support to civil authorities, including capabilities to manage the consequences of an attack.1Countering Threats Close to their SourceOur primary line of defense remains well forward. Forces operating in key regions are essential to the defense of the United States and to the protection of allies and US interests. Our theater security activities with multinational partners provide access to information and intelligence critical to anticipating and understanding new threats. This access supports the ability of the United States to project power against threats and support the establishment of an environment that reduces the conditions that foster extremist ideologies. Our forces, including those rotationally deployed and those stationed forward, will work cooperatively with other nations to encourage regional partners to eliminate threats and patrol ungoverned space. More directly, deployed military units will work closely with international partners and other US government agencies to take the battle to the enemy – engaging terrorist forces, terrorist collaborators and those governments harboring terrorists.2Protecting Strategic ApproachesThe JOC for “Homeland Security” includes tasks to protect the United States from direct attack while securing the air, sea, land and space approaches to the United States. We will join the efforts of multinational partners and other US government agencies to form an integrated defense of the air, land, sea and space approaches in and around US sovereign territory. Protecting these strategic approaches requires persistent surveillance that allows the United States to identify, continuously track and interdict potential threats. This integrated defense is essential to securing strategic access and retaining US freedom of action.3Defensive Actions at HomeWhile we will attempt to counter threats close to their source and interdict them along the strategic approaches, we must retain the ability to defend the United States from an attack that penetrates our forward defenses. At home the Armed Forces must defend the United States against air and missile attacks, terrorism and other direct attacks. As necessary, the Armed Forces will protect critical infrastructure that supports our ability to project military power. When directed, the Armed Forces will temporarily employ military capabilities to support law enforcement agencies during special events. During emergencies the Armed Forces may provide military support to civil authorities in mitigating the consequences of an attack or other catastrophic event when civilian responders are overwhelmed. Military responses under these conditions require a streamlined chainof- command that integrates the unique capabilities of active and reserve military components and civilian responders. Effective defense in the face of adaptive adversaries will also require the exploitation of future technologies to improve capabilities to rapidly detect, assess and interdict WMD/E and emerging threats.4Creating a Global Anti-Terrorism EnvironmentIn addition to defending the US homeland and supporting civil authorities, our strategy will diminish the conditions that permit terrorism to flourish. To defeat terrorists we will support national and partner nation efforts to deny state sponsorship, support, and sanctuary to terrorist organizations. We will work to deny terrorists safe haven in failed states and ungoverned regions. Working with other nations’ militaries and other governmental agencies, the Armed Forces help to establish favorable security conditions and increase the capabilities of partners. The relationships developed in these interactions contribute to a global antiterrorism environment that further reduces threats to the United States, its allies and its interests. For example, intelligence partnerships with other nations can take advantage of foreign expertise and areas of focus and provide access to previously denied areas. These relationships are essential mission components to protecting the United States, contributing to deterrence and conflict prevention, as well as preventing surprise attacks.BPrevent Conflict and Surprise AttacksThe United States must prevent conflict and surprise attacks through actions that deter aggression and coercion while retaining the capability to act promptly in defending the nation. Preventing conflict and deterring aggression rely in large part on an integrated overseas presence. Overseas, US forces permanently based in strategically important areas, rotationally deployed forward in support of regional objectives, and temporarily deployed during contingencies convey a credible message that the United States remains committed to preventing conflict. These forces also clearly demonstrate that the United States will react forcefully should an adversary threaten the United States, its interests, allies and partners. The United States must remain vigilant in identifying conditions that can lead to conflict in anticipating adversary actions and in reacting more swiftly than in the past. The Joint Force will deploy forward with a purpose – on the ground, in the air, in space and at sea – and work with other nations to promote security and to deter aggression. Preventing conflict and surprise attacks requires that the Armed Forces take action to ensure strategic access, establish favorable security conditions and work to increase the capabilities of partners to protect common security interests.1Forward Posture and PresenceIncreasing the capabilities of partners and their willingness to cooperate in operations that ensure regional security requires an integrated, global view of our long-term strategy and enhancements to our overseas military posture. Combatant commanders, employing a mix of forward stationed, rotational and temporarily deployed capabilities tailored to perform specific missions, improve our ability to act within and across borders, strengthen the role of partners and expand joint and multinational capabilities. Posture and presence enhancements also serve to assure our friends; improve the ability to prosecute the WOT; deter, dissuade and defeat other threats; and support transformation. These changes, developed in anticipation of future threats, help to ensure strategic access to key regions and lines of communications critical to US security and sustaining operations throughout the battlespace. Within the process of adjusting our overseas presence, combatant commanders must develop and recommend posture adjustments that enable expeditionary, joint, and multinational forces to act promptly and globally while establishing favorable security conditions. The value and utility of having forces forward goes beyond winning on the battlefield. Employing forces in instances short of war demonstrates the United States’ willingness to lead and encourages others to help defend, preserve and extend the peace.2Promote SecurityThe visible and purposeful presence of US military capabilities is an integral part of an active global strategy to ensure security and stability. Military forces engage in security cooperation (SC) activities to establish important military interactions, building trust and confidence between the United States and its multinational partners. These relatively small investments often produce results that far exceed their cost. SC complements other national-level efforts to prevent conflict and promote mutual security interests. These activities encourage nations to develop, modernize and transform their own capabilities, thereby increasing the capabilities of partners and helping them to help themselves. SC helps resolve doctrinal employment differences among military counterparts, enhances important intelligence and communication linkages and facilitates rapid crisis response. Active SC contributes to stability in key areas of the world while dissuading potential adversaries from adopting courses of action that threaten stability and security. In this way, we facilitate the integration of military operations with allies, contribute to regional stability, reduce underlying conditions that foment extremism and set the conditions for future success.3Deterring AggressionDeterrence rests on an adversary understanding that the United States has an unquestioned ability to deny strategic objectives and to impose severe consequences in response to hostile or potentially hostile actions. Deterring aggression and coercion must be anticipatory in nature to prevent the catastrophic impact of attacks using biological, chemical or nuclear weapons on civilian population centers in the United States or in partner nations. The Armed Forces have the capability to exercise flexible deterrent options (FDOs) with appropriate combat power to defuse a crisis or force an adversary to reevaluate its courses of action. Combatant commanders build upon the capabilities of early arriving FDOs to support the swift defeat of an adversary when necessary. Moreover, they employ capabilities to establish favorable security conditions in which other, non-military FDOs can succeed. Effective deterrence requires a strategic communication plan that emphasizes the willingness of the United States to employ force in defense of its interests. Combatant commander participation is essential in developing a strategic communication plan that conveys US intent and objectives, and ensures the success of the plan by countering adversary disinformation and misinformation. Such strategic communication can help avoid conflict or deescalate tensions among adversaries. The United States requires a broad set of options to discourage aggression and coercion. Nuclear capabilities continue to play an important role in deterrence by providing military options to deter a range of threats, including the use of WMD/E and large-scale conventional forces. Additionally, the extension of a credible nuclear deterrent to allies has been an important nonproliferation tool that has removed incentives for allies to develop and deploy nuclear forces. Deterring aggression by a wider range of adversaries requires transforming existing US strategic nuclear forces into a new triad composed of a diverse portfolio of capabilities. This new model for strategic deterrence includes non-nuclear and nuclear strike forces, active and passive defenses, as well as infrastructure to build and maintain the force. Improvements and enhancements to non-nuclear strike capabilities, information operations, command and control, intelligence and space forces will contribute to a more robust and effective deterrent capability. Future advances in targeting and precision will provide the capabilities necessary to defeat a wider range of targets while reducing collateral damage.4Preventing Surprise AttacksMilitary forces can no longer focus solely on responding to aggression. The potentially horrific consequences of an attack against the United States demand action to secure the Nation from direct attack by eliminating certain threats before they can strike. Deterring threats and preventing surprise attacks will place increasing demands on intelligence assets, the agility and decisiveness of the force and the ability to work time-critical issues in the interagency setting. Preventative missions require shared, “actionable” intelligence, and rules of engagement that allow commanders to make timely decisions. This decision making process stresses collaboration, speed and responsiveness – key ingredients required when exploiting time-sensitive opportunities as they arise, especially against mobile, time critical targets. These missions require exacting analysis and synthesis of intelligence gathered by a combination of capabilities, including human and technical collectors. These operations will generally involve coordinated efforts with other agencies and departments in the US government, placing a premium on information sharing, intelligence fusion and collaborative planning.CPrevail Against AdversariesWhen necessary, the Armed Forces will defeat adversaries. Developments in the security environment necessitate a Joint Force that can achieve tactical and operational success and prevail in a manner that establishes favorable security conditions and ensures enduring victories. Terrorist attacks demonstrate that conflict is not limited to geographic borders and that defeating root causes of terrorism requires a total national effort. The United States will constantly strive to enlist the support of the international community and increase the capabilities of partners to contend with common challenges, but will not hesitate to act alone, if necessary.1Swiftly Defeat AdversariesSome operation plans will focus on achieving a limited set of objectives. Commanders’ plans to swiftly defeat adversaries will include options to: alter the unacceptable behavior or policies of states; rapidly seize the initiative or prevent conflict escalation; deny an adversary sanctuary, defeat his offensive capabilities or objectives; and provide support to post-conflict stability. In each case, the Joint Force must combine speed, agility and superior warfighting ability to generate decisive effects. Moving forces into multiple geographic locations will require assured strategic access as well as strategic and tactical lift systems robust enough to conduct and sustain multiple, simultaneous operations. Swiftly defeating adversaries in overlapping operations will require the ability to quickly reconstitute, reconfigure and redeploy forces to conduct another campaign.2Win DecisivelyWhere necessary, commanders’ plans will include options to rapidly transition to a campaign to win decisively and achieve enduring results. The capabilities required for major combat operations must be applicable to the full spectrum of threats ranging from state to non-state adversaries employing traditional and/or asymmetric capabilities. A campaign to win decisively will include actions to: destroy an adversary’s military capabilities through the integrated application of air, ground, maritime, space and information capabilities; and potentially remove adversary regimes when directed. Such campaigns require capabilities for conventional warfighting, unconventional warfare, homeland security, stability and post-conflict operations, countering terrorism and security cooperation activities.3Stability OperationsWinning decisively will require synchronizing and integrating major combat operations, stability operations and significant post-conflict interagency operations to establish conditions of stability and security favorable to the United States. The Joint Force must be able to transition from major combat operations to stability operations and to conduct those operations simultaneously. At the operational level, military post-conflict operations will integrate conflict termination objectives with diplomatic, economic, financial, intelligence, law enforcement and information efforts. Joint forces will, where appropriate, synchronize and coordinate their operations and activities with international partners and non-governmental organizations. These missions render other instruments of national power more effective and set the conditions for long-term regional stability and sustainable development.