CINC for Africa - Is it Time to Rethink the Unified Command Plan

摘要

The Unified Command Plan (UCP) was established in 1946, and has guided U.S. military operations since that time. The UCP prescribes high-level command arrangements for the operational forces of the United States on a global basis, and establishes the missions, responsibilities and force structure for the unified combatant commands. The primary focus of the UCP has remained the Atlantic, European and Pacific areas of responsibility, with Africa being relegated to the position of a 'limited engagement' theater. However, the end of the Cold War dramatically altered the international geopolitical situation and refocused world attention on humanitarian tragedies in Africa. The result has been that the largest number of foreign and U.S. military interventions in any region in the 1990s has been directed towards Sub-Saharan Africa. The changing strategic environment requires the creation of a unified combatant command with exclusive responsibility for Sub-Saharan Africa.