The Future Force and Insurgents: A Need For Balance in Force Transformation

Force Transformation is a continuing process to reform the U.S. Army into a smaller, more lethal force utilizing the latest technologies, resulting in the Future Force. The process would create vulnerabilities that would increase the number of unnecessary casualties, degrading their combat capabilities over time when dealing with insurgents. The first weakness will be an over-reliance on light and medium forces which in most cases lack sufficient armor protection, combat endurance, and tactical mobility. Second, changing the overall force structure from division to smaller brigade-sized units of action may not be adequate for dealing with current security threats. Third, the Future Force will rely to heavily on emerging technologies that may be inadequate to deal with rising insurgencies. Even though the Future Force has some advantages, it is still geared towards fighting enemies with large formations of tanks. Without some balance made between the technologies of the Future Force and the capabilities of the current force, the Army would be unable to fulfill future missions