Tactical Nuclear Weapons in the Post Cold War Era: Implications for the Operational Commander

The United States and the former Soviet Union have made and continue to make historic progress toward nuclear weapons disarmament. In 1991, Presidents Bush and Gorbachev decided to destroy or withdraw (FROM FORWARD- DEPLOYED UNITS) all land and sea-based tactical nuclear weapons. This paper examines why Regional CINCs must retain a substrategic nuclear weapons capability until substantial improvements are made in our anti-tactical missile defense systems. The threat of nuclear proliferation and the deterrent value of tactical nuclear weapons are discussed. The paper also addresses the issue of tactical nuclear weapons as a warfighting capability and concludes that Combatant Commanders won't need this capability once we improve our theater- based missile defense systems..... Tactical Nuclear Weapons in the Post Cold War Era: Implications for the Operational Commander.