This U.S. Army War College student author believes that a strategic stationing plan for existing THAAD and JLENS missile defense assets must be developed concurrent with acquisition of new air and missile defense capabilities. He argues: ---- Although the Army has conceptual plans and requirements for the development of new air and missile defense capabilities, specifically THAAD and JLENS, the Army has not defined a strategic employment / deployment plan to meet Combatant Commanders' demands. ---- Throughout the 1990s, the Army deployed PATRIOT task forces to Southwest Asia and South Korea with little overarching strategic planning balanced against competing and evolving demands for missile defense capabilities. ---- The constant deployments had an adverse impact on the AMD force from personnel, training, and operational readiness perspectives. ---- This caused the Army to reevaluate its employment plan to sustain operational demand without breaking the AMD force. The Army used the Army Force Generation (ARFORGEN) model with 1:2 dwell time as means to sustain operational commitments. ---- Combatant Commanders' immediate demand for THAAD and JLENS, as they come off the production lines and lack of a clear stationing plan, could lead to a repeat of these 1990's challenges.

This monograph addresses the concept of how space support provides the enabling functions to facilitate the Unit of Employment's attainment of full spectrum dominance from the operational to tactical battlefield. It demonstrates the relevance of the space operations essential tasks to enable the Unit of Employment (UE) Concept. There are five Space Operations Essential Tasks: Support increased deployability and reduced theater footprint; achieve situational understanding "Off the Ramp" during entry operations; support precision maneuver, fires, sustainment, and information; enable continuous information and decision superiority; and protect the force during all phases of the operation. The integration of these five tasks, their capabilities and functions and the denial of these benefits to adversarial forces are crucial to the UE concept of operations . Space operations enables the objective force to achieve the characteristics envisioned for it by Army's Transformation Plan. This support resides in three key areas: C4ISR, space control, and force protection. Space support seamlessly integrates into all land force operations and remains a vital component of the Objective Force. The theater commander can directly access responsive and reliable space-based support across the entire spectrum of conflict. The United States'; ability to control space ensures the uninterrupted use of space-based assets to facilitate command and control and the protection of the force.