Domain Restriction Zones: An Evolution of the Military Exclusion Zone

Authors

Cole M. Mooty
Robert A. Bettinger, Air Force Institute of TechnologyFollow
Mark G. Reith, Air Force Institute of TechnologyFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

Summer 2023

Abstract

Since the early part of the twenty-first century, US adversaries have expanded their military capabilities within and their access to new warfighting domains. When faced with the growth of adversaries’ asymmetric capabilities, the means, tactics, and strategies previously used by the US military lose their proportional effectiveness. To avoid such degradation of capability, the operational concept of the military exclusion zone (MEZ) should be revised to suit the modern battlespace while also addressing the shifts in national policy that encourage diplomacy over military force. The concept and development of domain restriction zones (DRZs) increase the relevancy of traditional MEZs in the modern battlespace, allowing them to address problems associated with cross-domain and multidomain capabilities. The growth of adversary capabilities provides a clear rationale for the implementation of DRZs through all levels of force application within the competition continuum.

Comments

This article appears in Air & Space Operations Review, a periodical of Air University Press, and the successor publication to Air and Space Power Journal (ASPJ). The ASOR journal has a searchable open archive here.

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Source Publication

Air & Space Operations Review

Recommended Citation

Mooty, C. M., Bettinger, R. A., & Reith, M. G. (2023). Domain Restriction Zones: An Evolution of the Military Exclusion Zone. Air & Space Operations Research, 2(2), 20–36.