Military Takes “Proactive” Stance Against WMD Threats
The U.S. military says it is taking a more assertive stance against the proliferation or use of weapons of mass destruction.
Newly updated tactical military doctrine “represents a major shift from the former, passive defense nature against nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons to a broader, active, and preventive approach toward a wider range of CBRN [chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear] threats and hazards,” according to a new manual (pdf) on CBRN Operations.
The new posture constitutes “a significant doctrinal shift from ‘reactive’ to ‘proactive’ military capabilities. These actions are being performed at the tactical level, perhaps, now more than ever,” the unclassified manual said. See “Multi-Service Doctrine for Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Operations,” U.S. Army Field Manual 3-11, July 2011.
The manual states that in accordance with international law, “The United States will never use chemical weapons.” Likewise, “The United States will never use biological weapons.”
However, “The United States may use nuclear weapons to terminate a conflict or war at the lowest acceptable level of hostilities.” (That stark statement is not new, and appeared in prior doctrine published in 2003.)
Over the past few months, the Trump administration has been laying the foundation to expand the use of the Defense Production Act (DPA) for energy infrastructure and supply chains.
Get it right, and pooled hiring becomes a model for how the federal government decides what to do together and what to do apart. That’s a bigger prize than faster hiring. It’s a more functional government.
As of March 2026, there were at least nine documented U.S. wrongful arrests tied to face recognition misidentification. Errors like these are as much human as machine.
No one will be surprised if we end up with a continuing resolution to push our shutdown deadline out past the midterms, so the real question is what else will they get done this summer?