A Washington think tank concludes Navy should deploy more ships, submarines, to the Asia-Pacific theater.
The congressionally mandated report by the Center for International and Strategic Studies offers a number of suggestions to rebalance U.S. military forces after years of war, and bolster combat capabilities in the U.S. Pacific Command area.
Authors David J. Berteau and Michael J. Green, the center’s co-directors, propose a shift of forces away from Northeast Asia — Japan and South Korea — and more toward Southeast Asia, including the Philippines, and Australia. “The stakes are growing fastest in South and Southeast Asia,” they wrote.
The report suggests that the Navy base a second squadron of three attack submarines at Naval Base Guam, moving them from homeports on the East Coast, which would double “asymmetrical advantages in undersea warfare.”
The report recommends basing an amphibious ready group in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, because the existing ARG in Sasebo, Japan, “does not provide full coverage” for III Marine Expeditionary Force. Moving an ARG from the East Coast to the Asia-Pacific region would support and make “functional” the Marine Corps’ vision of four MAGTFs.
The House Armed Services readiness subcommittee plans to take up the center’s independent assessment shortly.