Indonesian soldiers begin dismounting from an UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter for their joint training rehearsal as part of Super Garuda Shield 2022 in Baturaja, Indonesia, Aug. 8, 2022. US Army Photo
Developing relationships and enhancing interoperability with allies partners through exercises and engagements is the focus for U.S. Army Pacific, officials from the command told reporters last week.
The command is pushing increased readiness and the ability to respond to contingencies in the...
The following is the May 6, 2022 Congressional Research Service report, U.S. Ground Forces in the Indo-Pacific: Background and Issues for Congress.
From the report
Since the end of the Second World War in 1945, the U.S. military has maintained a significant and enduring presence in the Indo-Pacific region. In the past, the United States’ strategic approach to the region has varied greatly. From September 11, 2001, until almost the next decade, strategic emphasis was placed largely on global...
https://news.usni.org/2022/05/17/report-to-congress-u-s-ground-forces-in-the-indo-pacific
The following is the Oct. 25, 2021, Congressional Research Service In Focus report, Defense Primer: Geography, Strategy, and U.S. Force Design.
From the report
The United States is the only country in the world that designs its military to depart one hemisphere, cross broad expanses of ocean and air space, and then conduct sustained, large-scale military operations upon arrival in another hemisphere. The other countries in the Western Hemisphere do not design their forces to do this because they...
https://news.usni.org/2021/11/02/defense-primer-on-u-s-strategy-and-force-design
The following is the recently released and declassified U.S. Strategic Framework for the Indo-Pacific and a statement from National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien.
From the statement
The United States is and always has been an Indo-Pacific nation. From our first trading ships that departed for China just eight years after the American Revolution, to establishing our first diplomatic presence in India in 1794, U.S. engagement in the region has been built on trade, cooperation, and shared...
https://news.usni.org/2021/01/15/u-s-strategic-framework-for-the-indo-pacific
The following is the Nov. 5, 2020 Congressional Research Service In Focus report, Defense Primer: Geography, Strategy, and U.S. Force Design.
From the report
World geography is an influence on U.S. strategy, which in turn helps shape the design of U.S. military forces.
World Geography and U.S. Strategy
Most of the world’s people, resources, and economic activity are located not in the Western Hemisphere, but in the other hemisphere, particularly Eurasia. In response to this basic feature of world...
https://news.usni.org/2020/11/06/report-on-world-geography-and-u-s-strategy
U.S. Secretary of Defense Dr. Mark T. Esper and wife, Leah Esper, arrive at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, Aug. 2, 2019. DoD photo.
NEWPORT, R.I. – The Pentagon is evaluating how to expand its Indo-Pacific region presence, including freedom of navigation operations and adding new bases, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said Tuesday morning.
Speaking to the student body of the U.S. Naval War College, Esper told the group of mostly lieutenant commanders and commanders that the challenges...
https://news.usni.org/2019/08/27/esper-pentagon-evaluating-how-to-expand-indo-pacific-presence
China’s Defense Minister General Wei Fenghe on June 2, 2019. USNI News Photo
SINGAPORE — China’s Defense Minister General Wei Fenghe struck an uncompromising tone on Taiwan and the South China Sea in his Sunday speech IISS Shangri La Dialogue.
“If anyone dared to split Taiwan from China, the Chinese military has no choice but to fight at all costs to preserve national unity” and defending China’s militarization of disputed territories in the South China Sea as “ the legitimate rights of a...
U.S. Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick M. Shanahan arrives in Singapore on May 30, 2019. DoD Photo
SINGAPORE – Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan stressed the U.S. commitment to the Indo-Pacific region and highlighted key messages from the Pentagon’s new Indo-Pacific Strategy Report in a Saturday speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue.
Shanahan’s speech mirrored past defense secretary Shangri-La addresses from former SECDEFs Ash Carter and James Mattis in which the United States points out...
https://news.usni.org/2019/06/01/shangri-la-shanahan-stresses-continued-u-s-role-in-indo-pacific
The following is The Department of Defense Indo-Pacific Strategy Report, released on June 1, 2019.
From the report
The Indo-Pacific is the Department of Defense’s priority theater. The United States is a Pacific nation; we are linked to our Indo-Pacific neighbors through unbreakable bonds of shared history, culture, commerce, and values. We have an enduring commitment to uphold a free and open Indo-Pacific in which all nations, large and small, are secure in their sovereignty and able to pursue...
https://news.usni.org/2019/05/31/the-department-of-defenses-new-indo-pacific-strategy
USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76), left, and the Japanese helicopter destroyer JS Hyuga (DDH 181), right, sail in formation with 16 other ships from the U.S. Navy and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) during Keen Sword 19 on Nov. 08, 2018. US Navy Photo
KUALA LUMPUR — The Pentagon will unveil a new Indo-Pacific strategy at the Shangri-La Dialogue this May, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Randall Schriver told a media roundtable in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, last...
https://news.usni.org/2019/04/30/u-s-will-unveil-new-indo-pacific-strategy-next-month