FY25 budget hinders 3 key US Army capabilities for Indo-Pacific region

To build deterrence capacity in the Western Pacific, the U.S. military has to overcome four tyrannies: distance, water, time, and scale.

These four tyrannies intuitively place the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Air Force as the “main effort” in flexible deterrent options. The Navy and Air Force have the mobility and range to overcome these tyrannies. The Army does have a distinct role and contribution to the Navy and Air Force mission. In Department of Defense terms, the Army is the “supporting” force, and the Navy and Air Force are the “supported” forces.

As more evidence mounts of the Chinese regime’s intent to conduct some form of action in the Western Pacific, all of the military services need to be prepared for their part. The southern border and fentanyl are tools of the Chinese Communist Party’s “unrestricted warfare.” However, despite thousands of Americans dying a month from fentanyl and legions of Chinese special operators in the United States, things are not happening fast enough for China.

There are three key capabilities that the U.S. Army can deliver to support the main effort of the Navy and Air Force in the Western Pacific. However, the flat fiscal year 2025 (FY25) budget and Secretary of the Army decisions are undermining these contributory capabilities.

Special Operations

The U.S. Army is heavily involved with the deployment of the U.S. military to Taiwan. It’s now been announced and recognized that Special Forces troops have been deployed to Kinmen, only 4,000 feet from China. The troops also appear to be on the Penghu Islands (a Taiwanese island county right off of Taiwan proper) and on Taiwan’s main island. The 1st Special Forces Group out of Ft. Lewis, Washington, appears to be the initial contributor to these operational detachments.

On Kinmen islands, the Special Operation forces could serve several possible roles. Foreign Internal Defense (FID) is a core Special Operations mission where local troops are trained to high levels of expertise, such as the use of long-range anti-material rifles and Javelin missiles to destroy any fast boats attempting to approach Kinmen.

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