American forces need to be reliably all over the Asia-Pacific region, and highly visible, if they're going to prevent China from dominating its neighbors, naval experts and leaders within the sea services are arguing as they lay out an American strategy that is starting to take shape.
"The U.S. Navy … puts in an appearance once in a while and what's the precedent? Only to soon steam away, leaving Chinese maritime forces in possession of disputed water and the skies," Naval War College professor Dr. James Holmes told an audience largely made up of Navy officers and other military officials.
Holmes was speaking at the annual Sea Air Space conference that is held just outside of Washington, D.C., where a string of officials laid out how the Navy is planning on structuring its increased focus on the Pacific.
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The academic argued that one of the strongest messages the military needs to send to local residents, like a fisherman heading into the waters surrounding his home, is that the American military will keep them safe.
"We should strive to get that fisherman to have the confidence to go out and make a living for himself and his family without undue fear of abuse at the hands of the [domineering] coastal state that's asserting itself unlawfully and effectively in defiance of international law," Holmes said, referring to China.
In January, the Marine Corps announced that it is reopening a base on Guam and plans to move thousands of Marines to the island over the next several years.
Vice Adm. Andrew Tiongson, the commander of Coast Guard forces in the Pacific, said at the same conference that his service is also "pushing our fast response cutters … that are headquartered in Hawaii and Guam."
Tiongson added that the Coast Guard is "going to experiment with rotary wing forces out of Guam trying to get more access that way or further reach."
On Monday, the Philippine government announced four new local military camps, including some that face Taiwan, where armed American troops would be able to rotate in and stay indefinitely.
That announcement was made over strong objections from China.
"You have to step onto the field of competition and stay there for the duration of the contest, if you hope to prevail," Holmes said.
"Let's experiment with how to harness joint and combined maritime forces along with geography, to strategic and political gain, emboldening our hypothetical fisherman," he added.
-- Konstantin Toropin can be reached at konstantin.toropin@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @ktoropin.
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