U.S. Repeatedly Loses War Games with China, Military Confidence in Freefall

The headline is about a war that starts with a bioweapon attack that knocks out Pacific bases, but that's only one scenario the U.S. lost.

Yahoo: 'We're going to lose fast': U.S. Air Force held a war game that started with a Chinese biological attack

What many Americans don’t realize is that years of classified Pentagon war games strongly suggest that the U.S. military would lose that war.

“More than a decade ago, our war games indicated that the Chinese were doing a good job of investing in military capabilities that would make our preferred model of expeditionary warfare, where we push forces forward and operate out of relatively safe bases and sanctuaries, increasingly difficult,” Air Force Lt. Gen. S. Clinton Hinote, deputy chief of staff for strategy, integration and requirements, told Yahoo News in an exclusive interview. By 2018, the People’s Liberation Army had fielded many of those forces in large numbers, to include massive arsenals of precision-guided surface-to-air and surface-to-surface missiles, a space-based constellation of navigation and targeting satellites and the largest navy in the world.

“At that point the trend in our war games was not just that we were losing, but we were losing faster,” Hinote said. “After the 2018 war game I distinctly remember one of our gurus of war gaming standing in front of the Air Force secretary and chief of staff, and telling them that we should never play this war game scenario [of a Chinese attack on Taiwan] again, because we know what is going to happen. The definitive answer if the U.S. military doesn’t change course is that we’re going to lose fast. In that case, an American president would likely be presented with almost a fait accompli.”

China invests in asymmetric stategies. They aren't going to fight the war the U.S. wants. They're going to hobble U.S. advantages or strike at U.S. weakness.

What’s needed, experts say, are bolder actions like the Marine Corps’ recent decision to completely divest itself of tanks and heavy armor by 2030 in order to invest in anti-ship missiles and mobile strike teams optimized for a conflict with China.

On a sober note, Hinote pointed out that the Blue Team force posture tested in the recent war game is still not the one reflected in current Defense Department spending plans. “We’re beginning to understand what kind of U.S. military force it’s going to take to achieve the National Defense Strategy’s goals,” he said. “But that’s not the force we’re planning and building today.”

Defense One: Pentagon Officials, Uniformed Leaders Slam Fox’s Carlson Over Female-Troop Comments

On Wednesday, the Fox host offered what Pentagon spokesman John Kirby called a “monologue” in which he criticized recent policy changes that benefit female services members, such as more flexible hair regulations and uniforms that better fit women — including pregnant ones.

“So we've got new hairstyles and maternity flight suits," Carlson said. "Pregnant women are going to fight our wars. It's a mockery of the U.S. military.”

High-ranking military personnel were quick to respond.

“Women lead our most lethal units with character,” Sgt. Maj. of the Army Michael Grinston tweeted Wednesday evening. “They will dominate ANY future battlefield we’re called to fight on. @TuckerCarlson’s words are divisive, don’t reflect our values. We have THE MOST professional, educated, agile, and strongest NCO Corps in the world.”

Why were they quick to respond? They're more concerned with their political enemies than fixing the problems with military readiness.

While senior administrative leaders at the Pentagon have been known to clap back at celebrity critics from time to time, it's far rarer for top uniformed personnel to do so. When asked if Defense Secretary Austin had concerns about uniformed personnel sharing responses to Carlson’s comments, Kirby said Austin “doesn’t have concerns about their willingness to do that.”

“The secretary certainly shares the revulsion of many others to what Mr. Carlson said in his opening statement,” the spokesman said.

"What we absolutely won't do is take personnel advice from a talk show host or the Chinese military,” Kirby said. “We are better and more effective not only when we represent the American people, all the American people, but also when we have the moral courage to include other perspectives and ideas into our decision-making perspective.”

The military is the msot trusted and competent institution of government. Confidence has plummeted one month into the Biden administation. USG is one year away from losing the last vestige of its authority legitimacy.

History will come fast.