Land forces tool up for potential Pacific conflict
Army, Marines pursue transformation, while exercises with partner nations grow more sophisticated.
Jennifer Hlad | May 27, 2025
Army Marine Corps Asia-Pacific China
HONOLULU—That U.S. Army leaders would extol the importance of land forces, even in a theater dominated by water, is as predictable as the Pacific tides. But for a naval aviator to do so? That’s a bit more surprising.
“Yes, the region is named after oceans, but human beings live on the land,” U.S. Indo-Pacific Command leader Adm. Sam Paparo said at the Land Forces Pacific conference here earlier this month, echoing an expression common among U.S. Army Pacific leaders before highlighting the Army’s key role in artillery, theater-wide sustainment, missile defense, and more.
Any discussion of military power in the Indo-Pacific would be incomplete without invoking the so-called pacing challenge to illustrate just what these land forces may find themselves up against. And unlike a decade ago, when most military leaders would studiously avoid uttering the word “China,” no one here was playing coy anymore. But through keynotes, panels, and one-on-one interviews with leaders, a general consensus was clear: though everyone hopes war never comes, the military is ready for the fight.
“We still remain confident in our ability to prevail, and we should make no mistake about that,” Paparo said. “Deterrence is our highest duty…and deterrence is that combination of capability and will and your would-be adversary’s knowledge of that, that demonstrates to them that the cost, the potential cost of aggression far outweighs the benefits.”
https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2025/05/land-forces-tool-potential-pacific-conflict/405589/?oref=d1-homepage-top-story
