A friend asked about the significance of such a move.
By itself, installing a four-star General doesn’t make much difference. At least if improved ability to fight (and win) a war – with or without our Japanese allies – is what you’re trying to accomplish.
The number of stars doesn’t matter much.
What USFJ needs is the structure, resources, dedicated forces, command authority, and mission to be a real warfighting command.
It is not a force that just apologizes to the Japanese government now and then when US troops misbehave, and otherwise mostly passes messages back and forth between Tokyo and Honolulu.
Without the aforementioned, it really doesn’t matter if USFJ is a four-star or any other star.
Four-Star Counterparts
It’s possible, however, that the Japanese might see a four-star as preferable. That is because his immediate Japanese counterpart at the Japan Self-Defense Force‘s soon-to-be-activated joint headquarters would be a four-star.
Japan will be standing up a Permanent Joint Headquarters by March 2025 – for the first time ever. It will direct and coordinate operations of the JSDF’s Ground, Maritime, and Air components.
Symbolism
And if symbolism is what you’re after, a four-star might suggest the United States places more importance on Japan than symbolized by a mere three-star. In the rarified world of Generals and Admirals, compared to a four-star, even a three-star sometimes has about as much influence as a First Lieutenant.
But symbolism doesn’t win wars. And winning wars is all that matters.
Or if you’re lucky, you’ve done what’s necessary so an adversary knows he’ll lose – and you thereby avoid a war altogether. That’s called deterrence.
A Record of Success Counts
As a final note…the ooh-Ing and ah-Ing over the possibility of a four-star being posted to Japan, does warrant a logical question.
Which US flag officer led or participated in a successful campaign beyond the tactical level over the last twenty-plus years?
To put it politely, it is not a very big number.
Indeed, only two General officers (both now retired) come immediately to mind as having questioned this lack of success against second- and third-rate opponents in the post-9/11 wars: Lieutenant General Ben Hodges and Brigadier General Donald Bolduc.
So Tokyo or anyone else shouldn’t get too excited about the Secretary of Defense’s comments.
And by the way, what’s his track record? As the commander of US Central Command (CENTCOM) he oversaw the effort to create a Syrian resistance force to fight Islamic State terrorists. And he blew a half billion dollars with nothing to show for it.
But in today’s military that gets you a medal, a seat on Raytheon’s board, and an invitation to run the entire US military.
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