Elimination is one of the eight
Weapons of Mass Destruction
A weapon of mass destruction (WMD) is a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or any other weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to numerous individuals or cause great damage to artificial structures (e.g., buildings), natur ...
(WMD) mission areas as outlined by the
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secur ...
in the 2006 National Military Strategy to Combat WMD and Joint Publication 3-40.
Joint Publication 3-40, Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction, 10 June 2009
/ref> "Elimination" is a mission under the Counterproliferation
Counterproliferation refers to diplomatic, intelligence, and military efforts to combat the proliferation of weapons, including both weapons of mass destruction (WMD), long-range missiles, and certain conventional weapons. Nonproliferation and ar ...
pillar (goal).
Definition
"WMD Elimination operations are operations to systematically locate, characterize, secure, disable, and/or destroy a State or Non-state actor
A non-state actor (NSA) are organizations and/or individuals that are not affiliated with, directed by, or funded by any government.
The interests, structure, and influence of NSAs vary widely. For example, among NSAs are non-profit organizations ...
’s WMD programs and related capabilities in hostile or uncertain environments. Elimination operations may be required when offensive operations against WMD targets carry unacceptable risk to the civilian population or U. S. and partner/allied armed forces".
Priorities
"The priority for elimination activities is to reduce or eliminate the threat to the United States and to support military and national objectives. Operational planning and execution for elimination must ensure the safety of U.S. and partner/allied armed forces through 1) security operations to prevent the looting
Looting is the act of stealing, or the taking of goods by force, typically in the midst of a military, political, or other social crisis, such as war, natural disasters (where law and civil enforcement are temporarily ineffective), or rioting ...
or capture of WMD and related materials; and 2) rendering harmless or destroying of weapons, materials, agents, and delivery system
A vaccine is a biological preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious or malignant disease. The safety and effectiveness of vaccines has been widely studied and verified.[< ...]
s that pose an immediate or direct threat to U.S. Armed Forces and the civilian population. Intelligence exploitation of program experts, documents, and other media as well as previously secured weapons and material is essential to combating further WMD proliferation and to prevent regeneration of a WMD capability. Once these activities have been accomplished, elimination operations may be transferred, if directed, to other U. S. Government agencies, international agencies, or 23 host nations to continue destruction of WMD programs and to redirect and monitor dual-use industry and expertise capable of regenerating WMD capability".
Task Levels
WMD elimination operations consist of four principal operational level tasks: isolation; exploitation; destruction; and monitoring and redirection. WMD elimination operations may be conducted during any phase of a combatant command's campaign or as an independent operation. That is, the four steps of WMD elimination discussed below may be performed simultaneously at various geographically separate sites. JTF-E activities will require logistics
Logistics is generally the detailed organization and implementation of a complex operation. In a general business sense, logistics manages the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of consumption to meet the requirements of ...
and security to be drawn from resources possibly allocated to ongoing operations. Most non- DOD agencies require a secure environment to support WMD elimination missions. Military planners should consider this when considering site security. In addition, requirements for WMD elimination should be considered when planning or conducting operations in all WMD MMAs.
References
See also
* Joint Elimination Coordination Element Joint Elimination Coordination Element (JECE) is a staff element of United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) with the mission of integrating WMD Elimination doctrine into operational plans and joint doctrine, augmenting an existing headquarters ...
(JECE)
* Joint Task Force for Elimination of WMD (JTF-E)
A Joint Task Force for Elimination (JTF-E) headquarters was a concept for a military task force headquarters staffed by joint personnel for the purpose of conducting WMD Elimination operations through command and control of joint elimination enabl ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elimination
United States Department of Defense doctrine