Combatant Commands

U.S. Department of Defense Combatant Commands consist of eleven unified commands with either a geographic or functional mission to provide command and control of military forces in peace and war. Reviewed and updated every two years by the JCS for official use only, the Unified Command Plan (UCP) assigns missions; planning, training, and operational responsibilities; and geographic areas of responsibilities (AOR) to Combatant Commands.

For an overview of the UCP and Combatant Commands, see Andrew Feicket's 2013 Congressional Research Service (CRS) report:

The Unified Command Plan & Combatant Commands: Background and Issues for Congress

And Defense Primer updates by CRS for:  Commanding US Military Operations | The Department of Defense

Geographic: 7 combatant commands that operate within a geographic area of responsibility

• U.S. Africa Command (USAFRICOM): HQ Stuttgart, Germany
• U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM), HQ MacDill Air Force Base, Florida
• U.S. European Command (USEUCOM): HQ Stuttgart, Germany
• U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM): HQ Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii
• U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM): HQ Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado
• U.S. Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM): HQ Doral, Florida
• U.S. Space Command (USSPACECOM): HQ Colorado Springs, Colorado (temporary) 

Functional: 4 combatant commands that function or operate worldwide across geographical boundaries

• U.S. Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM): HQ Fort Meade, Maryland
• U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM): HQ MacDill Air Force Base, Florida
• U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM): HQ Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska
• U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM): HQ Scott Air Force Base, Illinois

Note:  Map of Combatant Commands does not reflect announced changes in area of responsibility for Israel and Greenland

To look for an ebook, enter your search terms and click Search.  You can also perform a search of one of the e-book collections listed below:

Electronic Book Collections:  Search these e-book collections to find works on military, national security and international affairs:

• ProQuest Ebook Central - Over 200,000 works on all disciplines including military and strategic studies
• Praeger Security International - Recent works on security studies, strategy and terrorism
• JSTOR - Beyond its vast journal collections, you will find thousands of books and research reports 
• EBSCO eBook Collection - Search collection of books for titles on military and security studies

Listed below are several e-book titles with information on combatant commands and regional defense strategy:

Print Collection:  Use the Library Online Catalog to search for printed book titles, sometimes also available electronically. Examples include:

Security Studies on JSTOR is an excellent resource to find research reports from different policy institutes in the field of security studies.  Keyword is the default search in JSTOR with the option to refine results by publication year, content type and subject.  Advanced Search allows more precise searching. You can also Browse by Subject -- Area Studies, Military Studies, Peace & Conflict Studies, etc. 

Below are some reports from this collection:

Open access reports are also available from government and private research organizations.  Several important sources are:

• Congressional Research Service - Several CRS reports are listed inside the box for Introduction and Background Research
• EveryCRSReports.com - Easy to search site that retrieves recent CRS reports
• Office of the Director of National Intelligence - Reports include:  Annual Threat Assessment and Global Trends
• RAND Corporation - RAND has featured topics on:
  • Counterinsurgency | Global Security | Joint Operations | Major Combat Operations | Military Command & Control
  • Military Strategy | Peacekeeping & Stability Operations | Security Cooperation | Warfare & Military Operations

RAND publishes reports with research and analysis on combatant commands (and the Air Force component).  A few examples include:

Enter Journal Title to check for full-text availability and coverage periods in all library collections:

There are many scholarly and non-scholarly journal titles with a focus on topics related to military and strategic studies.  For example, Contemporary Security Policy, Geopolitics, International Security, Journal of Strategic Studies, Military Operations Research, Security Dialogue, Security Studies, Small Wars and Insurgencies.

Listed below are several important open access journals published by the Department of Defense, Joint Chiefs or one of the military departments: