Introduction

Military operations have constantly dominated current events over the past twenty years. Since 1979, the United States military has deployed with increasing frequency, which significantly increased after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The operations span the continuum from war to humanitarian relief. The U.S. military has 450,925 military personnel engaged in global operations in Iraq, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Somalia, Afghanistan, Kosovo, Bosnia, Germany, Poland, Philippines, Columbia, South Korea and Japan, just to name a few of the 163 nations with ongoing operations. Additionally, the U.S. military dominates the oceans and air space globally as it seeks to support the ever-growing number of operations. This support is provided not only to U.S. forces, but also to United Nations peacekeepers and the military of other nations.