The Marines are already shedding tanks and the ability to fight ashore as a second army in favor of directly supporting the Navy. Why is the Army competing for that Navy mission?
The Army continues to analyze options for basing new long-range precision weapons in the Indo-Pacific region, to be used by one of its new multi-domain task forces, the service's top officer said July 31. ...
The Army's multi-domain operating concept envisions the service employing advanced capabilities — such as hypersonics, anti-ship missiles, anti-aircraft systems and cyber weapons — to aid the other services in countering near-peer adversaries. The multi-domain task force pilot program was assigned under the Army’s Pacific Command in 2017. The Army is using information from the program to establish additional task forces.
I think that the Army should analyze options for how its core competency of large-scale combat operations could be used in INDOPACOM. As I wrote in that Military Review article, it could at least compel the PLA to spend resources countering that threat even if never used that way.
We should not ignore the multi-domain synergy of each service focused on winning its primary domain as I described in this Land Warfare Paper.
