Force Protection: The Paranoid Survive

U.S. forces, while engaged in commitments throughout the world in support of the National Military Strategy, face a formidable threat from terrorists. This terrorist threat exists throughout the spectrum of military operations. Lessons from the past indicate that terrorists will seek to exploit weaknesses in our force protection. They will find seams in our woven force protection fabric and rip them open when we are least expecting them to do so. The U.S. military must not only learn from past incidents, but observe trends in terrorist organizations and closely monitor their capabilities to better provide force protection for its troops. Terrorist organizations are becoming increasingly global and are using technology to expand their reach, intelligence, targeting and lethality. As this threat evolves, so should our ability to counter that threat. The Geographic CINCs, Service Component Commanders and Joint Task Force Commanders must lead a comprehensive proactive approach to providing force protection against this growing terrorist threat. This approach should involve force protection planning throughout all phases of military operations. Without an antiterrorism element in our force protection planning, we will always be reacting to the terrorists actions.