The African Crisis Response Initiative : command and control of a multi-national force

Abstract

As the lone remaining superpower, the United States is often viewed as the world's police force and expected to help restore order wherever problems arise. But as the size of the United States' military continues to shrink and the number of regional conflicts continues to grow the United States finds itself in a precarious position. How can it help attain regional stability throughout the world with an ever shrinking military? The African Crisis Response Initiative (ACRI) is one tool being used in an effort to attain this goal in Africa. The overall aim of the ACRI is to train a division's worth of battalions in the necessary tasks to conduct limited Peacekeeping Operations (PKOs) and Humanitarian Assistance Operations (HUMROs). The hope is that with this capability, African nations will be capable of solving their own problems with only minimal assistance being required from the United States. The purpose of this thesis is to identify critical factors and considerations for command and control of a multi-national force in Africa, participating in either PKOs or HUMROs. This thesis will examine recent conflicts in Africa, what lessons have been learned by peacekeeping forces used there, U.S. command and control doctrine, and what is currently being done with ACRI. The thesis will conclude with recommendations for what must be done on both the international and brigade level in the area of command and control, in order to provide the necessary framework to make ACRI successful.