Like I had speculated before it does appear that the general officer reductions being considered by the Pentagon could impact USFK and other organizations in the Pacific:
On Monday, Hegseth issued a memo that ordered a minimum 20 percent reduction of four-star active-duty positions and of general officers in the National Guard, as well as an additional minimum 10 percent reduction in general and flag officers — with an aim to “optimize” and “streamline” the U.S. military leadership.
The memo has given rise to speculation that the Pentagon could consider a potential change in the USFK leadership as it seeks to focus primarily on countering evolving threats from China while hoping that regional allies will step up to cope with other challenges, including from North Korea.
Reuters has reported that the USFK commander post and the head of the U.S. Army Pacific might be among the four-star positions that Hegseth might look at.
Asked if the secretary’s order for the reduction would affect the USFK, a U.S. defense official said the Pentagon has no announcements to make at this point.
You can read more at the link, but if the USFK commander is reduced to a three star then the question becomes will the U.S. handover OPCON to the ROK military? This would mean a ROK four-star would lead the Combined Forces Command and the USFK three-star would be the deputy. Dropping the USFK commander to a three-star would put USFK in line with the three-star that commands USFJ.
Additionally if the USARPAC commander is reduced to a three-star shouldn’t the Pacific Fleet (PACFLT) and Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) commanders also be reduced to three-stars and just leave the INDOPACOM commander as the only four-star in the Pacific?
. @SecDef "No more social engineering. No more climate change worship. No more electric tanks. No more gender confusion. No more pronouns. No more excuses. No more quotas.
No more WOKE bullsh*t that undermines commanders and command climates. We are laser focused on our mission… pic.twitter.com/02v9OTHDij
We have been hearing for decades now about the pivot to the Pacific and where in the world does most of the U.S. military’s attention continue to go to? The Middle East of course, just look at the recent Patriot battalion deployment from Korea as the latest example of this:
The United States is delivering a “more forward” force posture in the Indo-Pacific to help deter an increasingly assertive China, the Pentagon chief said Wednesday, calling on allies and partners to “step up” to be “true force multipliers for freedom.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made the remarks during a speech at the U.S. Army War College in Pennsylvania, reaffirming America’s security commitment to the Indo-Pacific region and stressing that U.S. President Donald Trump’s America First policy does not mean “America alone.”
“Most importantly, we are deterring Communist China in the Indo-Pacific and around the world to deliver peace in this region,” Hegseth said.
“We are delivering a more forward regional force posture. We are supporting allies and partners … Allies and partners are our force multipliers as they strengthen their own capabilities, including in Taiwan,” he added.
Moving an entire Patriot battalion out of INDOPACOM you would think would be a huge signal to Iran they are about to get smashed if they don’t reign in the Houthis:
U.S. Patriot missile defense systems were recently moved from Asia to the Middle East amid ongoing fighting with Houthi rebels in Yemen and threats from their backers in Iran, the leader of Indo-Pacific Command told lawmakers this week.
Speaking before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday, Adm. Samuel Paparo said the Army had transferred a Patriot battalion from INDOPACOM to the Central Command area of operations as the military builds up its defenses in the region. Tensions have been escalating since the U.S. launched a fresh barrage of airstrikes against the Houthis last month, with President Donald Trump vowing to keep up the pressure until the militants halt attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea. Trump also has threatened to go after their backers in Iran if the maritime attacks don’t stop.
Here is another cultural change coming to the military:
All official monthly celebrations related to race and identity in the Defense Department are banned effective immediately, under an order issued late Friday saying such initiatives divide the force. The decision comes at the start of Black History Month, which typically entails various celebrations at military installations around the world.
The guidance was issued under the title “Identity Months Dead at DoD.” “Our unity and purpose are instrumental to meeting the Department’s warfighting mission. Efforts to divide the force — to put one group ahead of another — erode camaraderie and threaten mission execution,” the Pentagon statement said.
The directive applies to all components and departments in the military, which are prohibited from using official resources, including man-hours, to host celebrations or events related to cultural awareness months. Instead of traditional identity celebrations, military units were encouraged to recognize “the valor and success of military heroes of all races, genders, and backgrounds as we restore our warrior culture and ethos,” the Pentagon said.
It looks like one less block of mandatory training Soldiers need to worry about sitting through as the military’s EO program is going to have to be revamped to take out anything DEI:
President Donald Trump is expected to sign executive orders that remove diversity, equity and inclusion programs from the military and reinstate troops booted out of the service for refusing coronavirus vaccines during the pandemic, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Monday. “This is happening quickly, and as the secretary of defense, it’s an honor to salute smartly, as I did as a junior officer and now as the secretary of defense, to ensure these orders are complied with rapidly and quickly,” he said. (…….)
“No exceptions, name changes or delays. Those who do not comply will no longer work here,” he wrote.
I think the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff knows that his days are numbered as well:
Hegseth was greeted Monday by Air Force Gen. Charles “CQ” Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who Hegseth has criticized in the past. “First of all, you got to fire the chairman of the Joint Chiefs. Any general that was involved, general, admiral, whatever, that was involved in any of the DEI woke [stuff] has got to go,” he said during a November podcast interview on the “Shawn Ryan Show.”
Peter Hegseth has long been an advocate for U.S. troops, however he has to be one of the least qualified Secretary of Defenses we have ever had. With that said anything considered “woke” in the military is likely to be gone considering his past statements:
– U.S. President-elect Donald Trump tapped Fox News Channel host Pete Hegseth to serve as his defense secretary on Tuesday, describing him as a “warrior for the troops and for the country.”
Trump issued a statement on the designation of Hegseth, an Army veteran with tours in Guantanamo Bay, Iraq and Afghanistan, as America’s next defense secretary is tasked with handling a series of tough security challenges, including North Korea’s military threats, Russia’s war in Ukraine and instability in the Middle East.
The Pentagon chief post requires Senate confirmation.
Drones are now clearly the present and future of warfare:
An Air Force F-22 Raptor takes off during a demonstration at Langley Air Force Base in Hampton, Virginia. Mysterious drones have been spotted flying around one of the U.S.’s most sensitive military areas, leaving defense
U.S. military personnel reported drones appearing in restricted airspace over Langley Air Force Base in Hampton, Virginia, shortly after sunset during a period of more than two weeks, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The drones appeared in December last year, according to the report, pulling in officials across the Pentagon, FBI and the Defense Department’s specialized office for investigating unidentified aerial phenomena.
One senior official based at Langley told The Journal that multiple drones headed across Chesapeake Bay and further south toward the city of Norfolk. They reportedly traveled across Naval Station Norfolk, the world’s largest naval port and the main base for the Navy’s vaunted SEAL Team Six. Unless the drones are an imminent threat, by law they cannot by shot down near military bases.
You can read more at the link, but the drone provocations over Langley went on for 17 straight days and DOD could do nothing about it. These low cost drones if outfitted with munitions could have taken out all the over-priced F-22’s that were stationed at Langley.
With the proliferation of ballistic and cruise missiles by North Korea and China it only makes sense for the U.S. Army to respond by deploying systems in response. What is interesting about this is that the Army is using U.S. Navy missiles on their own land-based systems:
The United States will deploy ground-based launchers capable of firing SM-6 and Tomahawk missiles in the Indo-Pacific region soon to address rising security threats, the Army Pacific commander has said.
During his visit to South Korea, Gen. Charles Flynn said the U.S. Army has developed “long-range precision fires,” listing the SM-6 interceptor and the maritime-strike Tomahawk as missiles that could be launched from the new launch system.
It marks his first confirmation of the types of weapons systems to be fielded in the region this year.
“That system will be deploying into the region soon. Where and when it’s going to go, I’m not going to talk about that now,” Flynn said during the interview with Yonhap News Agency at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, 60 kilometers south of Seoul, on Saturday.
You can read more at the link, but imagine how systems like this would rethink calcuations from the Chinese if deployed in some place like the Philippines or Okinawa.
