Military operations other than war Military Operations Other Than War ( MOOTW ) focus on deterring war , resolving conflict , promoting peace , and supporting civil authorities in response to domestic crises . The phrase and acronym was coined by the United States military during the 1990s , but it has since fallen out of use . The UK military has crafted an equivalent or alternate term " peace support operations " ( PSO ) . Both MOOTW and PSO encompass peacekeeping , peacemaking , peace enforcement and peace building . MOOTW not involving the use or threat of force include humanitarian assistance and disaster relief . Special agreements exist which facilitate fire support operations within NATO and the ABCA quadripartite working group , which includes American , British , Canadian and Australian military contingents . Cooperation is organized in advance with NATO standardisation agreements ( STANAGs ) and quadripartite standardisation agreements ( QSTAGs ) . Many countries which need disaster support relief have no bilateral agreements already in place ; and action may be required , based on the situation , to establish such agreements . MOOTW also involves arms control and peacekeeping . The United Nations ( UN ) recognises the vulnerability of civilians in armed conflict . Security Council resolution 1674 ( 2006 ) on the protection of civilians in armed conflict enhances international focused attention on the protection of civilians in UN and other peace operations . The implementation of paragraph 16 anticipates that peacekeeping missions are provided with clear guidelines regarding what missions can and should do to achieve protection goals ; that the protection of civilians is given priority in decisions about the use of resources ; and that protection mandates are implemented . Overview . MOOTW purposes may include deterring potential aggressors , protecting national interests and support the United Nations ( UN ) objectives . Peacetime and conflict represent two states of the range of military operations . Planners are challenged to find ways to resolve or work around unique arrays of inter - related constraints , e . g . , issues related to budgeting , training and force structure . The uncertainties which are inherent or implied include the varying political aspects which are likely to affect unanticipated MOOTW . Australia . The Australian Defence Forces has turned attention to the study and understanding of a changing geo - strategic environment . MOOTW becomes more important where the options for traditional application of military instruments are growing more limited . Australian participation in UN peacekeeping operations began in 1947 . Select Australian deployments . Current Australian deployments include the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan ( UNAMA ) ; the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq ( UNAMI ) ; the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus ( UNFICYP ) ; the UN Truce Supervision Organisation ( UNTSO ) ; the UN Integrated Mission in Timor - Leste ( UNMIT ) ; the UN Mission in the Sudan ( UNMIS ) ; and the UN – African Union Mission in Darfur ( UNAMID ) . Canada . The curriculum of Canada ' s military training programs includes MOOTW . Canadian peacekeeping is well publicised in Canada . China . The non - traditional missions of the Chinese armed forces have evolved as an increasingly used tool of statecraft . The People ' s Liberation Army ( PLA ) established specialized forces for military operations other than war . Current planning anticipates five specialized groups , including ( a ) flood and disaster relief forces , ( b ) post - earthquake emergency rescue forces , ( c ) emergency rescue forces for nuclear , chemical and biological disasters , ( d ) emergency relief force for transportation facilities and ( e ) international peacekeeping force . MOOTW have been a subject of study at the National Defence University ( NDU ) , which became a venue for examining the practical experience of equipment utilisation and support . The characteristics , rules , contents and methods of equipment utilisation and support in MOOTW were evaluated . Japan . The military in Japan is affected by Japan ' s pacifist post - war constitution . This affects classification of the " Hyūga " class helicopter carriers , which are ships of the Japan Maritime Self - Defense Force ( JMSDF ) . The missions of these ships are limited to " military operations other than war . " United Kingdom . The prescience of Sir Julian Corbett ( 1854 – 1922 ) his strategic point - of - view are reflected in contemporary applications of MOOTW , which extend and reinvigorate Corbettian formulations . The evolution of British tactics in the Malayan Emergency ( 1948 – 1960 ) illustrates lessons learned the hard way . The British developed a strategy with elements similar to " military operations other than warfare . " Lieutenant General Sir Harold Briggs proposed " two key goals to accomplish in order to end the insurgency - - first , to protect the population , and second to isolate them from the guerrillas . " British peacekeeping troops in Bosnia in the late 1990s attended to similar objectives in a process of re - establishing " normalcy . " United States . In United States military doctrine , military operations other than war includes the use of military capabilities across a range of operations that fall short of war . Because of political considerations , MOOTW operations normally have more restrictive rules of engagement ( ROE ) than in war . Although the MOOTW acroynm is new , the concepts are not . The RAND database identifies 846 military operations other than war between 1916 - 1996 in which the US Air Force or its predecessors played a noteworthy role . Singapore . The Singapore Armed Forces ( SAF ) anticipates a continuing need for conventional military competence into the foreseeable future , but missions in which the use of minimal force is the rule rather than the exception are expected to grow in importance . Proficiency in MOOTW requires a much greater and somewhat different set of skill sets than traditional warfighting . In this context , the SAF is developing new training programmes for small unit leaders . The process of educating and preparing a professional SAF capable of handling a wide spectrum of operations anticipates an increase in MOOTW . In 1999 , the Singapore contingent of UN peacekeepers in East Timor was the most extensive MOOTW mission attempted by the SAF . The commitment included three Landing Ship Tanks ( LSTs ) , medical teams , C - 130s , military observers and logistics support .