While there was a threat of sabotage, the Axis powers could neither project a major force to North America nor strike it from the air.
Today’s security environment is different. . . . Today’s enemies include nonstate organizations. Their members and power sources are hard to find and defeat. New enemies may appear with little warning. This situation makes it impossible to determine when the War on Terrorism will end. It places a premium on operational flexibility and adaptability—attributes of Army forces with balanced capabilities. It requires Army forces to sustain a consistently high readiness level. There will be no time to “ramp up” to meet a crisis.
From Field Manual 1, The Army
When Soldiers prepare for a mission, we as leaders must be certain that everyone is ready and everything is in order. If a weapon isn’t working, if you don’t have enough water or food, the success of the mission, and safety of the platoon is threatened. As a leader, it is your job, and the NCOs, to ensure that Soldiers have all the necessary clothing and working equipment in order, and that the platoon can conduct the mission effectively. We as leaders do this through pre-combat checks and inspections. These inspections build unit cohesiveness and prevent carelessness, lax, and complacency behavior among Soldiers in the platoon. Within this paper I will explained the purpose of checks and inspections, types of inspection, conducting inspections, inspecting equipment to better show why the Army conducts these checks and inspections.
Checks and inspections are part of the steps in the troop leading procedures (TLP). Pre-combat checks (PCCs) is a formal check by an individual soldier to ensure that he or she is prepared to execute a mission, and that all teams and squads equipment is prepared and in working condition. Pre-combat inspections (PCIs), is a formal check conducted by platoon leaders to ensure that