At Dawn We Slept

While writing this on the eighty second anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, unfortunately I see very similar parallels between the pre–World War II America and our current state military and economic readiness. A quick review of Gordon W. Prange’s seminal book on the attack on Pearl Harbor “At Dawn We Slept” confirms once again there are very similar patterns between Pre-World War II America and our current position on the world stage.

In the recent past our military was focused on successfully winning  two Major Regional Conflicts or “MRCs”  against an anticipated adversary such as Russia, The Peoples Republic of China, or North Korea. Unfortunately, that state of our military’s readiness, industrial base, and logistic infrastructure will not allow the United States the ability to execute this construct or even engage in a protracted conflict with either of these adversaries in parallel or alone.

Where America was once the “Arsenal of Democracy” we have either through intent or benign neglect have allowed our once omnipotent  nation to be in a position where we no longer have the capacity to engage in a prolonged conflict. One only need to look at the size of our U.S. Navy’s Battle Force ship count (now under 300 ships)  as compared to China’s which now has the largest navy in the world (approximately 370 ships) to see the disparity in an area where for years the United States was clearly dominant with no competitor that even came close. 

I sincerely hope the Trump Administration can rise above the din of partisan politics to prepare for what may lie ahead – idle words will not save American lives. As Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Marshall remarked in July 1940 on the cusp of America’s entry into World War II, “For almost twenty years we had all of the time and almost none of the money.” Unfortunately, in today’s environment we no longer have the luxury of either.