personnel qualification standard (pqs) - I Marine Expeditionary ...

112 USMC Operations
HA force or a peace operations force. Many peace operations include HA
considerations, even when not expressed in the peace operation mandate and
mission. HA-type missions that could occur in conjunction with peace operations
include:
o Providing food, potable water, shelter, transportation, and engineer
support to the resident population.
o Assisting in the delivery of humanitarian aid, especially to isolated
communities.
o Providing emergency medical treatment and medical assistance programs
for the prevention of disease.
o Providing extraction and evacuation of sick, injured, or wounded civilians.
HA is an important MOOTW mission that the US military is uniquely qualified to
plan and execute. Unlike any other single organization, the military has the
organizational structure, educated and trained personnel, essential equipment,
rapid worldwide deployability, and ability to operate in austere physical
environments.
Examples of MOOTW range from domestic support to combat operations. They
include JTF Andrew, Operation Desert Shield, Operation Urgent Fury, and
Operation Provide Comfort. MOOTW include a wide range of operations
occurring in both domestic and foreign environments, which include both combat
and noncombat operations. HA employs military assets to support noncombat
objectives as part of MOOTW. Since MOOTW normally occur to support the
political/diplomatic instrument, the military may not be in the lead. This
highlights the criticality of interagency and NGO and PVO cooperation and
coordination for mission success.
112.5 Define the acronym MOUT.
Importance of Urban Areas.
Military operations on urbanized terrain (MOUT) is defined as all military actions
planned and conducted on a topographical complex and its adjacent terrain
where manmade construction is the dominant feature. It includes combat in cities,
which is that portion of MOUT involving house-to-house and street-by-street
fighting in towns and cities
Throughout history, military planners have viewed cities as centers of gravity. As
such, in war, cities are something to be either protected or taken away, depending
upon one’s perspective (MCDP 1, Warfighting). Cities house the population
centers, transportation hubs, seats of government, sources of wealth, centers for
industry, information networks, and key nodes of communication within a nation.
Recent forecasts based on population statistics and the worldwide migration trend
from agrarian to industrialized societies predict that 85 percent of the world’s
population will reside in urbanized areas by the year 2025. As the world trend
toward urbanization increases, the military significance of cities is likely to
increase proportionally.
112-6