New naval strategy needed in Asia
Seventeen American sailors were not at the table this Thanksgiving. Seven died on board the U.S. Navy destroyer Fitzgerald in June, and 10 more on board the destroyer John S. McCain in August. Two of the Fitzgerald sailors were from California. Awakened in predawn hours by an onslaught of seawater, they all succumbed where they slept, leaving the country to ask: “Why?”
How could the world’s most modern warships make such stupid, fatal errors? What were the ships doing there anyway?
Navy admirals will continue to answer for the tragedies. Recently published Navy investigations show human error, fatigue, training, budgets and bureaucracy all sharing a portion of the blame, but that the accidents were avoidable. The accidents continue, with three more sailors dying in a plane crash off Okinawa last week. The overlooked question is how to prevent future accidents while still protecting U.S. interests in Asia — a question that challenges us to ensure these 20 sailors did not die in vain.
The security solution should better leverage America’s comparative advantage: our network of allies. We need to improve integration with allies and partners to safeguard U.S. national security interests in the Indo-Pacific, while relieving some of the excessive burden on the U.S. military. Decreased operational strain can decrease the chance of fatigueinduced accidents. Allied forces also increase our capacity to respond to short-term crises and provide long-term dividends via enhanced multilateral capabilities against future threats.
Recent ship collisions and air mishaps must be understood in the context of security threats in Asia, namely North Korean belligerence and Chinese aggression. America must continue to confront the security challenges these nations pose, but it does not have to do it alone.
When Kim Jong Un verbally threatens the West Coast or shoots ballistic missiles over Japan, U.S. warships are poised to defend America and our allies. It is no coincidence that three of the five Navy collisions this year — including the U.S. Navy destroyer Benfold on Nov. 18 — involved warships with ballistic-missile defense capabilities.
These unique ships are home-ported as part of the “forward-deployed naval forces” in Yokosuka, Japan. They are also the workhorses and tend to spend the most time at sea. When I served aboard Fitzgerald, FDNF had a second meaning: “Fitz deploys, nobody follows.” Ballistic-missile defense ships such as Fitzgerald do the solitary work of a goalkeeper, ensuring “rocket man” never scores a shot.
Further south in the East and South China seas, Beijing tests the maritime boundaries of its neighbors. China claims international waters and oceanborne features therein as its own. U.S. reaction, again, tends to fall on forward-deployed naval force ships stationed in Japan. Washington has responded with ships conducting Freedom of Navigation Operations, transiting through international waters that challenge China’s excessive maritime claims. These operations demonstrate our commitment to international law in the face of Chinese hubris. The destroyer John S. McCain conducted such operations off Chineseheld Mischief Reef less than two weeks before its deadly collision near Singapore.
A renewed strategy means doubling down on the pivot to Asia started under the Obama administration. This rebalance began to shift U.S. diplomatic, economic and military resources from the Middle East to the Indo-Pacific region, but it remains incomplete.
Security challenges necessitate better integration with our friends in the region, primarily mutual-defense allies Australia, Japan and South Korea. Each country possesses one of the most advanced militaries in the world, including ballisticmissile defense capabilities.
Washington needs to empower these countries to do more for regional security. Fortunately, geopolitical dynamics are in America’s favor:
Australia is increasingly concerned with Chinese action in the South China Sea; Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has relaxed constitutional restrictions on Japan’s selfdefense forces; and South Korea is bolstering its missiledefense capabilities to respond to Kim Jong Un’s belligerence. In conjunction with the U.S. Navy’s Seventh Fleet and San Diego-based Third Fleet, America can continue to broker the stable security of the IndoPacific as it has since the end of World War II, while also reducing its reliance on unilateral U.S. forces.
Organizational and training reforms are necessary to mitigate future U.S. Navy accidents. Strategic reform, however, is needed as well. It is time to rethink our role in the region, shifting from a unilateral reactionary force to a multilateral stabilizing presence. Our nation’s commitment to the 20 dead from Fitzgerald, John S. McCain and Carrier Air Wing Five must go beyond remembrance and toward greater integration with allies to help keep America safe. The work that forward-deployed naval force ships do is vitally important — so important that when they deploy, somebody should follow.