As the global threat environment evolves, the U.S. military must increasingly prioritize homeland defense. Given this strategic emphasis on the homeland, and acting as the primary theater component for U.S. Northern Command, how should the military's Western Hemisphere command approach setting the theater to balance the unique requirements of homeland defense with the institutional requirements of force projection?
As the military's footprint in domestic operations expands to meet these requirements, what are the long-term personnel and readiness implications for the broader Joint Force? Specifically, how can the military balance training for these complex domestic operations with large-scale combat operations (LSCO) readiness, and how could the Total Force be shaped to maximize its effectiveness and responsiveness for the differentiated demands of homeland defense missions versus global expeditionary operations requiring the capability to project power, seize, hold, and defend limited key terrain?
This research can explore the problem from numerous perspectives, including examining shifting authorities, varying governmental responsibilities, and doctrinal adjustments specific to the homeland. In exploring these adjustments, what are the core total military (all components) force contributions in support of homeland defense, and how should organizations transform to support border security and federal law enforcement? Furthermore, because operating within the homeland against irregular adversaries introduces unique operational and psychological risks, what specific legal, ethical, and training frameworks must be developed to mitigate the risk of harm to U.S. citizens and prevent moral injury to servicemembers operating in a domestic theater?
- Torbert, Maj. Ashton R., "When the Outside Threat Becomes the Threat from Within," AFGC thesis, 2025.
- Torbert addresses this by highlighting how sleeper cells and domestic insurgents could use cyber-enabled sabotage, commercial drones, and active shooter incidents to target critical domestic infrastructure like public safety systems, water systems, power grids, and emergency services. To protect these civilian and military assets, he advocates for the expansion of National Guard Cyber Protection Teams (CPTs) and Army Reserve cyber elements into state-level Cyber Emergency Frameworks, providing real-time network defense, cyber intelligence support, and penetration testing. Additionally, his proposed Regional Domestic Threat Task Forces (RDTTFs) are explicitly designed to protect physical infrastructure, supported by an interagency Domestic Threat Exercise Series (DTXS) to simulate and rehearse joint responses to coordinated attacks on these sites.