Lightning Over Water: Sharpening America's Light Forces for Rapid Missions

As the world continues its post-Cold War thaw, fears of major theater-level war have given way to a reality of increased numbers of smaller regional conflicts and crises. There is a growing need for a quick deploying, rapid-reaction capability. To address this need, both the Secretary of the Army and the Chief of Staff of the Army are calling for developing forces that are strategically responsive across the full spectrum of military operations. Although there is new dialogue on what might be done, there is also considerable research that has examined many of the issues now coming to light. This executive summary synthesizes research drawn from numerous studies conducted by the authors in the past few years on the topic of improving light air-deployable forces. This book was written primarily for soldiers who will develop such future capabilities; however, policymakers and technologists involved in improving rapid-reaction capability should also find it of interest.