WASHINGTON –
The Defense Department’s rebalance to the Asia-Pacific region remains on track despite budget constraints, Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work said yesterday.
“We are seeking a posture in Asia that is geographically dispersed, operationally resilient [and] politically sustainable, with an aim of maintaining peace and prosperity in one of the most important regions in the world,” the deputy secretary told an audience at the Council on Foreign Relations.
“And regardless of the level of our budget,” Work added, “that will go forward.”
By 2020, 60 percent of Air Force and Navy forces will be in the Asia-Pacific region, he said.
“We may not have as many forces as we would like, but 60 percent of the forces will be in the Asia-Pacific region,” Work added.
Regaining Army Units
At the same time, U.S. Pacific Command is regaining Army units that were rotating through Afghanistan and now are returning with all their equipment, including attack aviation assets like Apache helicopters, he said.
“The Army will have more than 100,000 soldiers when all is said and done in the Asia-Pacific region, including those on the West Coast in Hawaii, Alaska and Japan,” the deputy secretary said, adding that the Marines are distributing four powerful Marine air-ground task forces around the Pacific.
Best, Most Advanced Equipment
The Pacific-based forces will all have the best and most advanced equipment, with the most advanced payloads the Defense Department can possibly give them, he said.
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter will go first to the Pacific, and “by 2018 the very stealthy and highly capable Zumwalt destroyer will be based in the Pacific, we hope,” Work added.
The department is moving terminal high-altitude area defense, or THAAD, and Patriot batteries to key locations and putting more Aegis ballistic missile defense ships in Japan.
Also in Japan is a second transportable radar surveillance, or TPY-2, missile defense radar on the first new base there since the end of World War II, closing an important gap in the department’s sensor net, Work said.
The Navy's new P-8 maritime patrol aircraft is going to the Asia-Pacific region first, he said, and soon it will be armed with different weapons.
Long-Range Missiles
“Pacific air forces are going to have our most advanced weapons, to include stealthy, long-range attack missiles and longer-range air defense missiles.”
“The Navy is going after a new long-range anti-ship missile that will allow it to engage ships at standoff ranges. The Army is making targeted investments across the board and making itself more lethal, particularly in Korea, and we're investing heavily in electronic warfare across the board,” he added.
In addition to adding capabilities in the region, the department will continue to develop new approaches and rigorously test them, and will undertake more war games and demonstrations, and improve the Pacific basing infrastructure.
Major Construction Projects
The four biggest construction projects since the end of the Cold War are underway in the Pacific, he added. At Camp Humphreys in Korea, the Army will move south of Seoul after the $10 billion construction project is complete.
The Futenma Replacement Facility in Okinawa will allow the Marines to concentrate in the north and become more politically sustainable on the island, and a new construction project on Guam ultimately will house 5,000 Marines at a new base there, Work said.
And on Iwakuni Island, Japan, he added, “the Japanese government literally shaved the top off of a nearby mountain, [moved] the dirt down to a bay, put it on barges and went around and reclaimed an enormous part [of the island], expanding the area so the Navy's carrier air wing that's now in Atsugi can move down there. It really is impressive.”
Agreements, Alliances
The many efforts underway in the Asia Pacific would not have been possible without the department’s legal agreements and alliances, the deputy secretary said, adding that U.S. alliances with Japan, South Korea and Australia have never been stronger.
“As Secretary Hagel has said, it's really those treaty alliances that remain the backbone of our presence in the Asia Pacific, and it is the revitalization of all those alliances and partnerships that is a signature part of our Asia-Pacific rebalance and our entire global posture,” Work noted.
Work said that he was questioned about how serious the department is about the rebalance during his first official trip to the region in August. He called it a “real part of a broader reexamination of our global posture”
“We might not be able to go as fast as we would want because of budgetary pressures. We might not be able to have as many forces as we would otherwise like because we wouldn't be able to afford them,” he added. “But the Asia Pacific rebalance continues apace.”