US Military Would Need Conscription To Fight China: Expert

Authored by Andrew Thornebrooke via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

A U.S. Marine Corps Osprey comes in to land next to soldiers from Japan’s 1st Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade during an exercise with the U.S. 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit in Gotemba, Japan, on March 15, 2022. (Carl Court/Getty Images)

The U.S. military could not achieve victory in a war with China using its current, all-volunteer force, according to one expert.

The United States will thus need to radically transform its force structure to better contend with the emerging threat environment, up to and including by reinstating conscription, said Jonathan Askonas, an assistant professor of Politics at Catholic University of America.

“This is a five-alarm fire,” Askonas said during an April 11 discussion with the Hudson Institute think tank. “We’re facing global threats and we have a force structure which we know will not work against those threats.

“We basically can’t fight a war larger than Iraq with the all-volunteer force.”

The all-volunteer force has been a staple of U.S. military organization since 1973, when the draft was terminated along with the United States’ direct involvement in the Vietnam War.

Unfortunately, Askonas said, the all-volunteer force was proving incapable of generating the number of service members required for a war between great powers, and its burdensome logistical processes were likely to be ineffective in either a conflict with China in the Indo-Pacific theater or supporting European powers against Russia.

“We have a Goldilocks problem,” Askonas said. “Our army is too small as constituted to actually prosecute a war with these countries, but it’s large enough that it’s sucking a lot of resources away.”

“We have to be ruthless. We need to adapt our force structure not to hypothetical threats or in some universal Swiss army knife approach, but to the actual threats that we face.”

To that end, Askonas suggested that the military should re-adopt a “cadre” system for deploying the military, not dissimilar to that used in World War II.

Under such a system, the number of resource-heavy full time service members would be decreased in peacetime in favor of investing in expensive, slow-to-build items like warships.

About the Author: Patriotman

Patriotman currently ekes out a survivalist lifestyle in a suburban northeastern state as best as he can. He has varied experience in political science, public policy, biological sciences, and higher education. Proudly Catholic and an Eagle Scout, he has no military experience and thus offers a relatable perspective for the average suburban prepper who is preparing for troubled times on the horizon with less than ideal teams and in less than ideal locations. Brushbeater Store Page: http://bit.ly/BrushbeaterStore

5 Comments

Ghostmann April 15, 2023 at 08:25

This is why I had suggested to burn the selective service cards on Rumble. Do not give this illegitimate, illegal regime any support whatsoever. Only a fool follows its dictates, and shows it support and respect. It has perverted the Constitution and has totally disregarded the Bill of Rights. It is a domestic enemy, 100%. No different than the loyalists were in 1776.
- NC Scout April 15, 2023 at 08:39
  
  Let the skittles people fight for the nation they want.
  - Boon April 15, 2023 at 11:27
    
    Great humor, with most of our weaponry in Ukraine they will have to go into battle with slingshots loaded with skittles and mean Twitter comments…hope it works well for them!
  - Ghostmann April 15, 2023 at 15:13
    
    Damn right brother. The skittles brigade aren’t our people and they aren’t our country.
VariegationDelete April 15, 2023 at 13:12

Perhaps a plan to delete the useful idiots and cleanup the mess that has been made in recent decades?