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It might be yet another case of the US preparing for the war it wants to fight while ignoring the skills it need to operate in the real world. The US doctrine

It might be yet another case of the US preparing for the war it wants to fight while ignoring the skills it need to operate in the real world. The US doctrine have always been fleet warfare with large formations of US ships sailing alone on the open sea or in some water they have complete dominance over. which is exactly the opposite environment to where the recent accidents have happens as the us is forced to operate single ships under IMO rules something I suspect is not a big part of the west point curriculum as no self respecting naval officer is going to be caught dead doing coast guard type work The interesting and often forgotten thing here is that the Royal Navy who are way better sailors, and have far less cultural aversions towards playing coast guard then the USN failed miserably at a very similar mission in the icy waters around Iceland doing the 70ies and 80ies when Iceland decided to extend their economic exclusion zone beyond what the UK fishing fleets were willing to abide by. The problem is that nobody in Washington want the US navy to start a shooting match within range of china's coastal missile batteries so none of the warships equipment is applicable for any confrontation. so all they can really do if the Chinese coast guard decide to board some "allied trawler" fishing in what China calls Chinese waters is lurk about a 1000 yards away and yell on the radio.

dboreham 9y ago
Always good to see a Cod War reference..
DugFin 9y ago
>The US doctrine have always been fleet warfare with large formations of US ships sailing alone on the open sea or in some water they have complete dominance over One of the problems with the US Navy over the last 70+ years has been a tendency act as if they're still fighting WW2. It shows up in a lot of places in interesting ways. Another example is the USMC's fixation with hot beach amphibious assault, a tactic which is completely outdated with the advent of modern air power, and which hasn't actually been utilized since the Incheon landing in 1950.
- bdunbar 9y ago
  - In 1991 4th Brigade was kept afloat in the Gulf, forcing the Iraqi army to devote resources to protecting beaches in and around Kuwait, and away from the border where the actual assault took place. Then they snuck the brigade ashore and added them to the striking power across the border. Absent the ability to assault across a beach, those Iraqi divisions would have been on the border.
arethuza 9y ago
"Royal Navy who are way better sailors" Given the relative size of the US Navy (huge) and the Royal Navy (sadly tiny) do we have any evidence that they are better?
wombatpm 9y ago
>not a big part of the west point curriculum as no self respecting naval officer is going to be caught dead doing coast guard type work Very few NAVAL officers graduate from Westpoint. Most Graduate from Annapolis

dboreham 9y ago

Always good to see a Cod War reference..

DugFin 9y ago

>The US doctrine have always been fleet warfare with large formations of US ships sailing alone on the open sea or in some water they have complete dominance over One of the problems with the US Navy over the last 70+ years has been a tendency act as if they're still fighting WW2. It shows up in a lot of places in interesting ways. Another example is the USMC's fixation with hot beach amphibious assault, a tactic which is completely outdated with the advent of modern air power, and which hasn't actually been utilized since the Incheon landing in 1950.

bdunbar 9y ago
- In 1991 4th Brigade was kept afloat in the Gulf, forcing the Iraqi army to devote resources to protecting beaches in and around Kuwait, and away from the border where the actual assault took place. Then they snuck the brigade ashore and added them to the striking power across the border. Absent the ability to assault across a beach, those Iraqi divisions would have been on the border.

arethuza 9y ago

"Royal Navy who are way better sailors" Given the relative size of the US Navy (huge) and the Royal Navy (sadly tiny) do we have any evidence that they are better?

wombatpm 9y ago

>not a big part of the west point curriculum as no self respecting naval officer is going to be caught dead doing coast guard type work Very few NAVAL officers graduate from Westpoint. Most Graduate from Annapolis