This paper analyzes how a unit's METL can assist infantry battalions in preparing for and executing peacekeeping operations as well as their wartime mission. Field Manual 100-23, Peace Operations states, 'Peace operations are not a new mission and should not be treated as a separate task to be added to a unit's mission essential task list (METL).' With the United States currently involved in four different peace operations, restricting peace operations tasks from a unit's METL risks deploying untrained soldiers on critical missions. This study begins by examining United States policy and military doctrine concerning peace operations. Once this foundation is established, the author then views the Army's current training doctrine to provide the basis for analyzing the monograph's case studies. Three battalions preparing for and executing peacekeeping operations in the Sinai and Macedonia since 1993 are analyzed. The analysis focuses on the versatility of each battalion and how their METL influenced the preparation for and executing of each peacekeeping mission. The study concludes that the Army's current battle focused training methodology is an excellent means for units to identify their mission essential tasks. However, the overemphasis in training doctrine to limit a unit's METL to tasks associated only to a conceptual 'wartime mission' is not reflective of the tasks required for peacekeeping operations. The war that many units find themselves fighting in the 1990s, more often than not, is operations other than war such as peacekeeping. This study then recommends that peacekeeping tasks should not be restricted from an infantry battalion's METL.

ADA 324388 Approved for public release; Distribution is unlimited. The opinions and conclusions expressed herein are those of the student-authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College or any other governmental agency. (References to these studies should include the foregoing statement.)