Domestic Contingency Operations: A New Role for the United States Army

This study examines the role of the U.S. Army to resolve domestic contingencies. It defines the role of the Army in response to a domestic crisis by defining the taxonomy for domestic military operations. The author coins the term domestic contingency operations to describe the Armys role in response to domestic emergencies. The author uses domestic counterdrug operations as a paradigm to evaluate the effectiveness of domestic contingency operations using five parallels strategic guidance, operational objectives, organizational structure, tactical execution, and logistics. The thesis concludes that current domestic contingency doctrine and plans do not provide adequate guidance for commanders to execute domestic missions. The author hypothesizes that the requirements for such operations will increase in the next decade due to a declining national budget and the current focus on domestic issues. The thesis highlights the impact of such domestic missions on Army force structure debate and its implications for the active and reserve component mixture discussions. Finally, it provides suggestions to improve unit responsiveness.