That's the question of the day.
How will the US Army be relevant when everyone's attention is turning to the Pacific?
The answer is found in history and in Japanese planning.
Its to occupy islands in the area with Air Defense Artillery and Infantry Brigades.
As things currently stand the Stryker Brigades will be relegated to what they have always been...irrelevance. Sidenote: You don't form units around vehicles...its been a mistake that the Army's been making since reinventing its Infantry Squads to fit the Bradley. The US Army will have to re-embrace the Light Infantry concept and get boots back on the ground. It will take an institutional change in mindset but its doable. Brigade sized units scattered around the Pacific on select islands would be an automatic force multiplier. Toss in some robust Air Defense Artillery and you have road blocks and containment units to help cage the Chinese Dragon.
Best of all this matches not only US planning but also that of our Japanese and Australian allies. I would bet body parts that I highly value that Singapore would be happy with any training opportunities..as would the Philippines and even Vietnam.
Quick and easy the US Army is in the game in the Pacific...has a role in combating N. Korean nukes (if it deploys the appropriate gear for anti-missile defense) and has the chips in the game to help it survive those dastardly budget wars.
How will the US Army be relevant when everyone's attention is turning to the Pacific?
The answer is found in history and in Japanese planning.
Its to occupy islands in the area with Air Defense Artillery and Infantry Brigades.
As things currently stand the Stryker Brigades will be relegated to what they have always been...irrelevance. Sidenote: You don't form units around vehicles...its been a mistake that the Army's been making since reinventing its Infantry Squads to fit the Bradley. The US Army will have to re-embrace the Light Infantry concept and get boots back on the ground. It will take an institutional change in mindset but its doable. Brigade sized units scattered around the Pacific on select islands would be an automatic force multiplier. Toss in some robust Air Defense Artillery and you have road blocks and containment units to help cage the Chinese Dragon.
Best of all this matches not only US planning but also that of our Japanese and Australian allies. I would bet body parts that I highly value that Singapore would be happy with any training opportunities..as would the Philippines and even Vietnam.
Quick and easy the US Army is in the game in the Pacific...has a role in combating N. Korean nukes (if it deploys the appropriate gear for anti-missile defense) and has the chips in the game to help it survive those dastardly budget wars.
"You don't form units around vehicles...its been a mistake that the Army's been making since reinventing its Infantry Squads to fit the Bradley." This is why they are able to procure so many vehicles so fast. While the Marine Corps takes forever, because Marines don't buy vehicles unless they work with how marine units are organized. Building a Vehicle to fit the Marine Corps is a long and expensive process
ReplyDeleteDidn't you ever watch "the pentagon wars", isn't that based on purchasing the bradley?? how many decades did it take from concept to deployment, how many iterations, did they go thru. how much money, was wasted, the complete oposite from your statement!!
ReplyDeletefwolfgram.
ReplyDeletespot on! but we do need to get a move on. the AAV is ancient.
darren.
the pentagon wars did happen but i'm not talking about the vehicle development...i'm talking about vehicle utilization. they reformed a basic fighting unit to fit a vehicle. imagine if we bought a tiny helicopter and that suddenly became the size of our squad...if the helo could only carry 3 people, many would be calling that crazy. that's in essence what the Army did with the Bradley.