Rapid Deployment Force

Variations on the Concept

Theoretically, there are many variations on the RDF concept. A range of real-world examples provides a spectrum of operations from high-end global-reach deployments described above, to regional deployments involving multinational forces in the middle of the spectrum, to neighboring state—or even intrastate—deployments at the lower end.

The most credible global-reach RDF capability now resides within the U.S. military, about which more is given below. A future global-reach capability might be established by the United Nations under auspices of the Military Staff Committee authorized by Chapter VII, Article 47 of the Charter. Despite persistent advocates, however, all efforts to establish a standing UN RDF have thus far proved unsuccessful, and prospects are unpromising.

A number of regional RDFs have taken the field, including one sponsored by the Economic Community of West African States, employed successively in the Ivory Coast and in Liberia. Another regional initiative has been taken by the six states of the Gulf Cooperation Council that recently agreed to create a combined RDF to address security threats in the Persian Gulf.

European states have long been involved in planning for, and occasionally deployment of, multinational forces that can be characterized as RDFs.

The so-called battlegroup concept that has been sponsored under auspices of the Common Security and Defence Policy of the European Union appears to be designed to meet intraregional rather than extraregional contingencies. Meanwhile, under auspices of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), an Allied Command Europe Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC) has been established, which has provided components to the “NATO Response Force” in Afghanistan.