Thinking the Unthinkable -- Facing a Nuclear, Biological, Chemical and the Meansto Deliver (NBCM) Adversary: An Integrated Planning Consideration for the Operational Commander

摘要

In today's volatile political, economic, religious and cultural environmentNation-States aggressively pursue robust NBCM capabilities as economic and force equalizers for asymmetric warfare advantage. Two thoughts follow. First, the odds indicate the United States will face a NBCM capable and confident adversary in a future regional conflict. Second, although never publicly nor explicitly stated, the United States has indicated it may respond with nuclear weapons when confronted with NBCM in a conventional war. However accurate, this exchange invites a compelling question: are we prepared to confidently integrate such Presidential tasks into a conventional environment. This paper seeks to provide some considerations to this question. It is not about telling the Operational Commander (CINC) how to execute Presidential tasks; it is about pulling together diverse, unclassified, operational considerations as a reasonable foundation for integrating a nuclear response into conventional operations. p4.