Checking Fire. . .

(Checking Fire. . .)

This time of year, in March, 1942, the Japanese seemed in-vincible. After the attack on Pearl Harbor from the previous December, Hong Kong also fell that month. Then came Wake, Guam, and Singapore the following February. Like an octopus extending its tentacles, the East Indies. Sumatra. Java and Malaya were on their way to Japanese occupation. The first attempt at a unified Allied Command, ABDACOM (American, British. Dutch, Australian) command had been all but dissolved in March, 1942, with massive naval losses (the USS Houston, he most significant unit of the US Asiatic Fleet was sunk March 1st). The Philippines were also about to fall with Corregidor holding out to the first part of May.


The Japanese forced the Americans and British from the Western Pacific. Each would have to re-constitute their forces, build new ships, develop new doctrines and strategies to take back that massive ocean and it was done island by island and by putting most of the Imperial Japanese Navy on the bottom. However the Japanese might of looked in March, 1942, the money shot was how they looked in August, 1945.


Now the situation in the Western Pacific is as fluid as it perhaps was in 1942. The increasing probability that the Peoples' Republic will invade the Republic of China (Taiwan). If that proves to eventually be the case. and if Taiwan is indeed an ally, then it goes without saying that there will be a significant American naval presence in the region.


That being said, however, the Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV to NCIS fans) Carlos Del Toro, has stated that the focus of the U,S. Navy will be combating climate change. And in addition, the President has ordered the removal of two vessels from the active duty list. These actions are being taken in the context of the evolving Beijing-Moscow Axis.


Also, it cannot escape notice that any escalation to hostilities, against China or Russia, will consume quantities of expendables, food, munitions, and, interestingly enough, fuel. If Biden wants to effectively prosecute whatever fight might be coming, it would be incumbent on the Commander in Chief to ensure the Armed Services, the ones that swore an oath to defend against threats foreign and domestic (questionable if Biden counts as "domestic").



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