AUSA 2023: US Army North working to forecast the ‘Future of Homeland Defense'

The future of US homeland defence likely includes a need to protect the army's ability to deploy from domestic bases. (376th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs/Staff Sgt Stacy Jonsgaard)

US Army North is examining the impact of emerging technologies on homeland defence through to 2040, with implications for how the ground service would project power in the event of a conflict with near-peer competitors such as Russia or China.

The Future of Homeland Defense project grew out of several years of work that informally began during the US government's efforts to address the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020, Colonel Mark Lavin, US Army North's director of strategy, plans, and policy, told Janes.

“At the height of the Covid response, US Army North was a major player for integrating the interagency capabilities across the entire nation, and … the commander at the time raised the question of ‘what does a homeland defence type scenario look like'?” Col Lavin said on 10 October at the annual Association of the United States Army (AUSA) 2023 symposium in Washington, DC.

“We looked around and realised that the way that Covid was playing out at the time – a nationwide response, all 10 FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency] regions activated, with the theatre army integrating army capabilities and joint capabilities across the entire country – and asked – could we do that if we're shifting our focus to threats to the homeland from a near-peer competitor?” he said.