Pentagon Crafts New “Joint Warfighting” Concept

By Kris Osborn – President & Editor-In-Chief, Warrior Maven

(Washington, D.C.) “Not today” was the term used by the Pentagon’s 2nd highest ranking military officer to describe the thought process of potential enemies contemplating an attack on the U.S.

The idea, expressed by Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. John Hyten, represents the critical and well-known paradox fundamental to deterrence …. Develop massive amounts of weaponry, combat power and military superiority such that an enemy simply would not consider an attack. Weapons generated for the specific purpose or hope … of not having to be used but rather ensuring peace.

“We exist to defend this nation. We defend this nation by deterring conflict,” Hyten told an audience at the 2021 Space and Missile Defense Symposium, Huntsville, Ala.

Integrated Deterrence

Hyten said this in the context of a discussion about Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s recent announcement about “integrated deterrence,” a strategic concept intended to sustain peace by virtue of being able to leverage all dimensions of U.S. power in a coordinated fashion if needed. 

Deterrence comes from all capabilities. Integrated Deterrence is not just our cyber, space or nuclear capabilities, but how we might apply them to create problems for an adversary so the adversary decides not to engage. That is the goal,” Hyten added. The idea is to ensure a situation wherein “an adversary looks at us, sees the power that we bring and says ‘not today,’” he said.

The concept of “integrated deterrence” therefore, includes not just missile defense, nuclear weapons or the emerging U.S. Space Force, but rather a need to be prepared for the widest possible range of contingencies across all domains.

Perhaps an enemy might think an advantage can be gained with a ballistic missile attack or some kind of conventional incursion short of using nuclear weapons? In this scenario, the U.S. might simply need to establish an ability to defend against or “shoot down” those kinds of weapons, leading an adversary to realize the futility in that kind of attack.