By Rana Danish Nisar
According to the strategy paper “Army Multi-Domain Transformation: Ready to Win in Competition and Conflict” published by the US Army on March 16, 2021, the US Army is expected to be transformed in the next 14 years into a multidomain power capable of operating as one internal strength within the opponent’s defensive zones.
This article describes the present structure of the Commanding U.S. Military Operations.
The Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase The Pentagon is also often used as a metonym or synecdoche for the Department of Defense and its leadership. Located in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., the building was designed by American architect George Bergstrom and built by contractor John McShain. Ground was broken on 11 September 1941, and the building was dedicated on 15 January 1943. General Brehon Somervell provided the major motivating power behind the project; Colonel Leslie Groves was responsible for overseeing the project for the U.S. Army. The Pentagon is the world’s largest office building, with about 6,500,000 square feet (150 acres; 0.60 km2) of floor space, of which 3,700,000 sq ft (85 acres; 0.34 km2) are used as offices. Some 23,000 military and civilian employees, and another 3,000 non-defense support personnel, work in the Pentagon. It has five sides, five floors above ground, two basement levels, and five ring corridors per floor with a total of 17.5 miles (28.2 km) of corridors. The central five-acre (2.0 ha) pentagonal plaza is nicknamed “ground zero” on the presumption that it would be a prime target in a nuclear war.
In short, Pentagon is the Headquarters of the USA Department of Defense, under the Unified Command Plan. The UCP is a classified executive branch document that assigns responsibility for different missions and areas of the world. It is prepared by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff every two years and approved by the President. The USA Department of Defense/Pentagon has established its missions and geographic responsibilities among 11 commands.
The Combatant Commands
A Combatant Command (COCOM ) is a military command with broad continuing missions under a single commander and composed of significant assigned components of two or more military departments. There are currently eleven Combatant Commands. The COCOMs, and by extension their commanders, have responsibility for the military’s operations in their respective area of responsibility during both peacetime and war. There are seven regionally focused COCOMS, which operate in clearly delineated areas of operation and have a distinctive regional military focus, and four functional COCOMs, which operate worldwide across geographic boundaries and provide unique capabilities to geographic combatant commands and the services.
Regionally focused COCOMS
U.S. Africa Command (USAFRICOM), responsible for sub-Saharan Africa. It is located at Kelley Barracks, Stuttgart, Germany. The USA Africa command is entirely responsible for military / defense allied with the countries of the African continent, the African Union and the African regional security authorities. It defends and protects the securities of the United States by consolidating the security of the African nation-states and, in collaboration with them supports armed operations, preventing and combating large and transnational threats.
U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM), responsible for most of the Middle East, parts of Northern Africa and west Asia, and part of the Indian Ocean. It is located at MacDill Air Force Base, FL. USA Central Command is accountable for maneuvers in twenty states that fall in a “crucially” central zone of the sphere of the Globe. Most of the interested states are Islamic countries: Iran, Iraq, Tajikistan, Jordan, Bahrain, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon , Uzbekistan, Oman, Islamic Republic of Pakistan Pakistan, Qatar, Afghanistan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia (KSA), Syria, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
U.S. European Command (USEUCOM), responsible for all of Europe, large portions of Central Asia, parts of the Middle East, and the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans. It is located at Patch Barracks, Stuttgart, Germany. The US European Command Mechanism is with NATO and other associated states to discuss the protection and security requirements of states in Europe, the Middle East and Eurasia. This Command synchronizes with these states for peace support activities, and in the event of war. It also supports benevolent, philanthropic and public-minded initiatives aimed at encouraging armistice, friendship, solidity in the region.
U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM), responsible for the defense of the continental United States and coordination of security and military relationships with Canada and Mexico. It is located at Peterson Air Force Base, CO. The functions of the Northern Command USA are carried out in the area surrounding the interior of the United States, Alaska, Mexico, Canada, Caribbean rations and contiguous waters. This command is primarily responsible for protecting the motherland and also oversees the North American Aerospace Defense Command.
U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM), responsible for the Pacific Ocean, Southwest Asia, Australia, south Asia, and part of the Indian Ocean. It shares responsibility for Alaska with U.S. Northern. It is located at Camp H.M. Smith, HI. The USA Pacific Command supervises a zone of duty elongating from the waters of the USA west shore to the western edge of India, and from Antarctica to the North Pole, encircling 36 miscellaneous nation-states. This command and its associates do efforts to indorse the improvement of the ward while collaborating to augment security, sanctuary, dissuade any belligerence as well as antagonism, reply with power when essential and to deliver benevolent, philanthropic and public-spirited assistance. Currently, this command has been changed with the name of “Indo-Pacific Command”.
U.S. Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM), responsible for Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. It is located in Miami, FL USA Southern Command supervises a zone of duty surrounding thirty one nation-states in Latin America, south of Mexico, Central and South America, and the Caribbean Sea. This command has mechanism to upsurge the sanctuary of the USA by fetching its associates to augment the diplomatically pacification aptitudes of the region, to encourage human rights, to daunt unlawful happenings related with illegitimate trafficking as well as trading and to deportment of cosmopolitan, intercontinental, and worldwide armed aerobics, drills, operations planned to reinforce corporations as well as conglomerates and while evolving communal competences.
USA SPACE COMMAND (USSPACECOM):
U.S. Space Command (USSPACECOM) aims to deter aggression and conflict, defends U.S. and allied freedom of action, delivers space combat power for the Joint/Combined force, and develops joint warfighters to advance U.S. and allied interests in, from, and through the space domain.
Functional COCOMs
USA-SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND:
U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), provides special forces, counter-paramilitary, counter narcotics, guerilla, psychological warfare, civil education, and insurgency capabilities. It is located at MacDill Air Force Base, FL. USSOCOM’s primary mission is to provide combat-ready forces for rapid reinforcement of the other unified commands worldwide. It prepares assigned forces to carry out special operations, psychological operations and civil affairs missions where required. To carry out this mission, USSOCOM: Develops doctrine, tactics, techniques and procedures for all special operations; Conducts specialized courses of instruction; Trains assigned forces and ensures interoperability of equipment and forces; Monitors the preparedness of its forces assigned to other unified commands; Develops and acquires unique equipment, material, supplies and services.
U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) is responsible for controlling space, deterring attacks on the United States and its allies, launching and operating satellite systems, and directing the use of U.S. strategic forces. It is located at Offutt Air Force Base, NE. It collaborates worldwide in partnerships with other military commands, services, and intervention agencies to deter and uncover strategic attacks on the United States. This command is responsible for commanding US nuclear capabilities, space tasks, global investigations and scouting, as well as inspections, communications, computers, full universal missile defense, and the fight against weapons of mass destruction.
U.S. Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM) directs, synchronizes, and coordinates cyberspace planning and operations to defend and advance national interests in collaboration with domestic and international partners. USA Cyber Command assignment is to uninterrupted, orchestrate, and harmonize cyberspace as well as infobahn development and set-ups to guard and improvement in nationwide comforts in cooperation with internal and intercontinental associates.
US Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM), provides air, land and sea transportation to several components of DOD. It is located at Scott Air Force Base, IL. The USA Transportation Command offers the Defense Division a summary of transportation skills and resources. Consisting of commercial companies, this command authorizes a wide range of mutual kinetic operations.
Finally, the Service Component Commands consists of organizations, individuals, units, detachments, and/or support forces that belong to a particular military service but are assigned to a Combatant Commander. As an example, U.S. Army Europe (USAREUR) and U.S. Naval Forces, Europe (USNAVEUR) are both service component commands to U.S. European Command (USEUCOM). These components are subordinate to the Combatant Commander of the geographic theater in which they operate.
Rana Danish Nisar The author is a PhD (International Relations) Student at the School of Politics and International Studies (SPIS). He holds Mphil in (International Relations), Masters in (Pakistan Studies), and Masters in (International Relations) degrees. He won acceptance Harvard Project for Asian and International Relations HPAIR (USA), 2017. His research interests are broadly in South Asian Affairs, South Asia Geo-Politics, India-Pakistan Relations, South Asian Nuclear Politics, US and South Asia, Indian Ocean, Security studies, South Asian developments studies.
(The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of World Geostrategic Insights)