Publisher's Synopsis
The Department of Defense (DoD) argues that it needs to maintain a high level of readiness across the joint force so that it can remain highly responsive. In this report, the author conducts a historical analysis to identify the demand for responsiveness in past U.S. operations. This historical analysis demonstrates that U.S. forces have been called on to rapidly respond to crises many times since 1950 and that responsiveness was important-to varying degrees-to achieving the United States' political aims in all but one of the cases examined. Moreover, the U.S. military has routinely been called on to carry out multiple operations simultaneously. Going forward, the United States must consider the balance between readiness for smaller-scale crisis response operations and being prepared to deter and defeat a great power in major combat. It is not clear that the U.S. military can continue to try to do everything. This historical analysis ca
