Report Card Time: Does the U.S. Air Force’s Arctic Strategy Measure Up?
The United States has long treated the region with benign neglect because the North American portion of the Arctic was unusually frigid compared to the European side.
In a sense the U.S. military could take advantage of role reversal in the Arctic, making the theater a laboratory for anti-access American style. Hostile forces may operate off U.S. seacoasts and will need managing if so. Fielding armaments able to reach out from land in concert with seagoing forces, and devising and practicing the necessary joint tactics, could let U.S. commanders glimpse the methods deployed by red teams around the world. And getting in the red team’s mind is a crucial step toward defeating it.
By augmenting its home-field advantage in the Arctic, then, the Pentagon might even the odds against home teams in Eurasia. The Arctic Strategy is a good start. But one hopes the service leadership will mix a little Patton into its thinking to go with the Westmoreland.
James Holmes is J. C. Wylie Chair of Maritime Strategy at the Naval War College. The views voiced here are his alone.
Image: Flickr