Strategic Mobility, the Force Projection Army, and the Ottawa Landmine Treaty

Current and emerging United States Army doctrine places great emphasis on the concepts of strategic responsiveness and force projection to meet the National Security Strategy requirements. The use or potential use, of landmines significantly increases the lethality of the Army force during deterrence and combat operations, and enhances survivability. In essence, with the use of landmines, the U.S. Army achieves an economy of force that in effect increases the U.S. Army's agility, versatility and ability to deploy. Smaller more deployable Army forces such as the medium brigade and light units can generate more combat power by using the effects provided by landmines integrated with other combat systems. However, in order to use landmines worldwide, the U.S. must move, store, or reposition landmines in, through, or to the theater and area of operations prior to, concurrently, or in conjunction with the deploying Army force. Movement of forces, material, and equipment across international borders and into sovereign nations requires the permission of those nations, or a conscious decision to violate international laws and conventions regarding sovereignty. The Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-personnel Mines and their Destruction - also known as the Ottawa Landmine Treaty - has the potential to place severe limits on the United States ability to deploy forces. The Ottawa Landmine Treaty (OLT) prohibits signatory countries from using, developing, producing, acquiring, stockpiling, or transferring anti-personnel landmines. As more countries sign and ratify the OLT, and create internal laws that enforce it, the number of countries that will allow a force that trains, plans, and intends to employ anti-personnel landmines as a matter of course to enter, pass through or over its sovereign territory has the potential to significantly decrease. The location, national strategy, and strategic alliances of non-signatory countri

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