Light Infantry Divisions in the New World Order

A predictable outcome of the ongoing aspiration for a New World Order is a far smaller military force structure. A smaller force structure driven by changing threats, new required capabilities, and far fewer resources. Concurrently, there is an ongoing review of each service's roles, functions, and missions in pursuit of national military strategy. Joint and service doctrine continues to be revised and updated. New technology still stretches the imagination and impacts on all aspects of the military environment. The ripple effect should be that each service's major force structure pieces, such as the Army's light infantry divisions, will be reviewed. A review process that looks at the linkage between strategic realities, national security policy, national defense strategy, national military strategy, and finally at each service's roles, functions, and missions. This research paper first reviews the Cold War decision to add light infantry divisions to the Amy of Excellence in 1983; and concludes that the decision was derived from a top-down analysis. An analysis that establishes linkage from national defense strategy to an Army requirement for a set of capabilities fulfilled by the light infantry divisions (LIDs). At the end of the Cold War the National Command Authority had at its disposal seven LIDs in the Army force structure. The second part of the paper, which assumes an understanding of the Bush administrations vision for a New World order, attempts to answer the thesis question-is there a requirement for light infantry divisions in the New World Order military force structure? This part of the paper looks at the top-down linkage between the new defense strategy foundations, the new military strategy concepts, and the new strategic realities.