Operations in Kosovo

The Army of today is being asked to deploy all over the world. The missions that the soldiers are asked to do are as diverse as the locations they deployed to. In the future, as the Army becomes a more lighter and leaner force, it will be asked to go more places and on shorter notices. However, it will be asked to deploy with the same level of lethality it did when it was alarger more robust force. Commanders need tools when asked to deploy forces. They need help when deciding quickly how to get their forces to the fight. This thesis develops such a tool and applies it to operations in Kosovo. It provides a solution to the problem of what is the optimal European port to use when deploying forces to Kosovo. The tool use is an objective method that cancels out biases with facts and assumptions that pertain to the problem. It examines each course of action by comparing them to evaluation criteria. The criteria are derived from guidance from the Commanding General of both U.S. Army Europe and the 21st Theater Support Command. The result of this study shows that Burgas, Bulgaria is the best course of action for deploying forces to Kosovo. It also explains that other factors that were not included in the study could have had an effect on the final recommendation. Overall, this study provides an unbiased answer to the question of which port to use for deploying forces to Kosovo and provides commanders a tool that will assist them when deploying forces in the future.