Are the Ukraine Crisis and ISIS Threatening the Pivot to Asia?

SSG Norman Lihou — Tue, 10 Feb 2015 21:52:13 -0500

Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Jonathan Greenert, is also quoted in saying that so far the re-deployment of U.S. naval forces to the Pacific theater of operations is proceeding as planned: “60 percent represents the percentage of our Navy that is home-ported west. The idea is it’s easier to rotationally deploy or to react if you have to, if you’re home-ported where you believe your focus of attention should be. We’re on track for that. As we build ships, we look toward home-porting them to the West and keeping that process going, because it’s not just numbers; it’s also the numbers with the most capability.”

Read more:
http://thediplomat.com/2015/02/are-the-ukraine-crisis-and-isis-threatening-the-pivot-to-asia/

The chairman of the House Seapower and Projection Forces subcommittee shows concerns over the U.S. pivot to Asia.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 10 at 2015 9:59 PM

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 10 Feb 2015 21:59:02 -0500

Excellent post. Remember what the pivot to Asia means for the branches. Navy gets a bigger pie in the Sea-Air Doctrine, were as the middle east is Land-Air Doctrine.

Response by CPT Jack Durish made Feb 10 at 2015 10:30 PM

CPT Jack Durish — Tue, 10 Feb 2015 22:30:08 -0500

The problem I have with all of this is that We the People don't have sufficient knowledge to judge whether or not our national defense is being handled correctly. We never have. We never will. Strategic decisions are based on strategic intelligence and acumen and we don't have either.

Thus we are left with only our trust. Our trust in the Administration and our trust in our military leaders. Sadly, for many of us, trust is a scarce commodity these days. The lights appear to be on at the White House, but the President is rarely home. He's golfing. He's fund raising.

More importantly, the President assures us that he is better than everyone else at just about everything. He's a better speech writer. He's a better politician. He's a better diplomat. He's a better golfer. Does he think that he's a better military strategist? I'm not sure I heard that one...

The last person I heard who sounded like that was Sadaam Hussein. Remember? Remember his claims that he would defeat the coalition forces handily because he was a military genius. Wasn't it General Schwartzkopf who said he was neither and then proved it? President Obama seems in that league, with Sadaam, not Schwartzkopf.

So there's my problem. No trust, no confidence...

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 10 at 2015 10:30 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 10 Feb 2015 22:30:17 -0500

The problem is that we have to deal with ISIS. That's not an option any longer. The Urkraine on the other hand we still have the leave it be option. But so long as terror threats abound in the mid-east we will have to be there.