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ABSTRACT: This article argues that the United States must prepare for "the fight to get to the fight," focusing on deploying and maintaining military forces from a contested homeland amid near-peer threats. It extends existing literature by emphasizing US Transportation Command's role in mitigating cyber, kinetic, and infrastructure vulnerabilities. The methodology includes scenario-based analysis of adversary actions, leveraging intelligence estimates and modeling for resilience in transportation networks. This piece provides actionable insights into fortifying logistics systems crucial for strategic mobility and operational success, ensuring readiness and deterrence in contested environments.
Keywords: USTRANSCOM,Transportation Command, contested homeland, conflict, Joint Deployment and Distribution Enterprise
Imagine the dark clouds of war have roiled into a storm with the future uncertain. A nation's security objectives are at stake as it postures its forces across the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean against a formidable adversary. The opening blows of conflict play out with quick strikes and counterstrikes along the expected and distant lines of battle. And then, the unthinkable happens: an audacious adversary musters the cunning and stealth to employ unexpected weapons that circumnavigate defenses with strikes directly against the homeland- strikes that shake the foundation of the populace and cause the nation's leaders to recoil in surprise and dismay. The unexpected attack diverts resources from executing the nation's planned strategy against its adversary; military capabilities are instead expended to secure those near regions from which any future attacks may emanate against the homeland, and a realization arises that military forces may be inadequate to fight abroad and secure the homeland at the same time.
Although this narrative could be the beginning of America's next war, this scenario played out in April 1942 when the combined US Army Air Forces and Navy effort successfully launched the Doolittle Raid against Japan following the stunningly successful Japanese attack against Pearl Harbor just months before. In Doolittle's surprise raid, 16 B-25s struck multiple Japanese cities, including Tokyo, the emperor's home, and the national capital. Although the strategic implications of the Doolittle Raid may not have been significant, they exacerbated an already complex dilemma in that".. .Japan felt compelled to act to save face and prevent future attacks on the homeland by ruthlessly eradicating any threat of future raids emanating from Chinese airfields."1