Can-Do Is Not Working
A continuously high operational tempo hinders readiness.
By Lieutenant Jeff Zeberlein, U.S. Navy
December 2021
Proceedings
For the past 20 years, the nation’s military has operated in largely uncontested environments, establishing maritime sanctuaries and air superiority with relatively few constraints. But in 2018, the National Defense Strategy (NDS) warned that the U.S. “competitive military advantage has been eroding.”1 Signed by then–Secretary of Defense James Mattis, it states that “inter-state strategic competition, not terrorism, is now the primary concern in U.S. national security.”2 In March 2021, President Joseph Biden’s Interim National Security Strategic Guidance (INSSG) reaffirmed that China and Russia have “invested heavily in efforts meant to check U.S. strengths and prevent us from defending our interests and allies around the world.”3
But the Navy’s force is strained—mentally, physically, mechanically—from the toll of continuous war. If the service is to prepare for strategic competition, maintenance and modernization programs need updating, the best enlisted sailors and officers must be retained to lead in future conflicts, and new recruits must be trained for the front lines.
The Navy cannot continue the status quo of a can-do culture that constantly appeals to a sense of patriotism and duty for short-term needs. In the event that global state-on-state conflict erupts, this approach will leave precious little energy to devote to true “operational necessity.” In its current state, the Navy will be unable to provide its historic level of security and power projection should the United States unwittingly slide straight from its longest war to its most formidable.
https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2021/december/can-do-not-working
