The forces we have in theater are the forces that will fight...the enemy won't give us time to set up?

“Why would they give us a month and a half to set the theater? What force you have over there is the force you’re fighting with.” Powerful words from @CMC_MarineCorps during his visit to @MarineCorpsU. Is your brain ready to fight tonight, to adapt what you have at hand to win? pic.twitter.com/uKfuhnDvNZ

— The Krulak Center (@TheKrulakCenter) October 17, 2019

I get the thinking but I think it's wrong.

This gets back to the rapid deployment issue AND the forward deployment thing that is so rampant in the Pentagon.

Berger is asking everyone to challenge preconceived notions.  Well in the backdrop of this Tweet let me hit you with a few of my thoughts.

1.  Forward deployment as a deterrence is lunacy.  Small units will simply be speed bumps IF an enemy force decides to attack.  Therefore forward deployment makes no sense.  All it does is hazard our forces.

2.  Forward bases on allied lands that are within range of enemy artillery/rockets (conventional) is additional lunacy.  You could render entire squadrons combat incapable within a few minutes under the right scenarios.

3.  Forever wars make no sense.  Think about US force distribution currently.  If the big one was to happen in the Pacific then could we stop the onslaught?  I don't think so.  Of course this goes back to this tweet and the Commandant's thinking but it shouldn't be that way.  Under the current world situation if an even minor skirmish were to occur in the Pacific between Chinese and American warships we would probably immediately see fighting breakout in Africa, the Middle East (bigger) and Russia could even seize more land in Ukraine.  We're so spread out we're making ourselves VULNERABLE!

The answer?

In my mind its to tilt the script.

We need fewer overseas bases in the modern era and we need a return to Rapid Deployment Forces.

Expeditionary should disappear from the vocabulary of the US Army and Air Force.  Only the Navy and Marine Corps should cling to that verbiage.  The Army and Air Force should focus on being rapidly deployable to any region on the planet.  Snap exercises where units can go wheels up in 18 hours needs to be a standard again.

A new fleet of fast transports that can move an entire division should be a priority of Transportation Command.  A new C-17 Mega should be started and put into service.

Penny packets of forward deployed forces?

It should be a thing of the past.  In many locations they're not appreciated.  In others they really serve no purpose except as a drain on the treasury.

We're rapidly running out of money.

It's past time to get smart.