Homeland Security and Homeland Defense: America’s New Paradigm

Abstract

The United States Constitution divides authority over the military between the President, in his role as Commander in Chief,1 and the Congress, which has the authority to “raise and support Armies ... provide and maintain a navy.. . and make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval forces.”2 After the devastating terrorist attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001, President George W. Bush reaffirmed that “The United States government has no more important mission than protecting the homeland from future attacks.”3 The National Strategy for Homeland Security outlines the policy of the United States to achieve this goal.4 It defines homeland security as “a concerted national effort to prevent terrorist attacks within the United States, reduce America’s vulnerability to terrorism, and minimize the damage and recover from attacks that do occur.”5 Further evidence of the U.S. Government’s commitment to this mission can be found in statements made by senior Department of Defense (DOD) leadership: “Protecting the United States homeland from attack is the highest priority of the Department of Defense.”6 DOD has developed a homeland “defense-in-depth” strategy for covering all defense domains.7 A key element of this strategy is addressing threats at the earliest possible opportunity and as far away from our domestic shores as possible. The strategy acknowledges there will be times and instances when military forces will be employed domestically. These instances can be broken down into three broad categories of employment.