New Army Noncombat Initiatives

This Issue Paper outlines the U.S. Army's current role in three noncombat initiatives: education and community service; nation assistance, particularly in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe; and disaster management-suggests potential new activities in these initiatives, and examines some possible concerns. Following the evaluation of the three initiatives, the document concludes that if noncombat activity expands as a proportion of total Army activity, the Reserve Component share of that total might increase disproportionately. The document also observes that in terms of much of its ongoing noncombat activity, the Army does not receive credit in the public mind, does not adequately reward its participants, and does not incorporate these activities into its image (or vision) of itself and that Army leadership could easily reap public benefits by highlighting its noncombat contributions. The document ultimately points out that although the Army has the requisite capabilities for performing noncombat activities, in the final analysis the activities must be evaluated within the context of a U.S. Army vision.