Photo By Staff Sgt. Keaton Habeck | Catherine Johnston (left), R.O.K. Lt. Gen (Ret.) Chun Inbum, Elbridge Colby, Lt. Gen....... read more read more
HONOLULU – A trained and ready military force is a powerful tool for preventing conflict. This is one of many points made during the panel discussion “Deterrence and the Utility of Armed Force” at the Association of the United States Army, LANPAC 2023 symposium in Honolulu.
I Corps Commanding General, Lt. Gen. Xavier T. Brunson; principle and co-founder of The Marathon Initiative, Elbridge Colby; Republic of Korea Army Lt. Gen. (retired) Chun In-bum, and deputy director for intelligence for U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, Catherine E. Johnston discussed how deterrence functions in the Indo-Pacific theater and more specifically, how to deter the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
The 2022 National Defense Strategy identified the PRC as the top multi-domain threat to the Indo-Pacific region.
Colby elaborated on how a united and ready land force can deter a potential aggressor from expanding its influence.
“The utility of military force in deterrence should not be underestimated,” Colby said. “What the Russia/Ukraine experience is showing to us is actually that at the end of the day, what is most central is military force… dominance is the most reliable form.”
Chun went on to describe how alliances and playing to each country’s strengths would be effective in deterrence.
“I think most of you know that Koreans were really great at civil military operations,” Chun said. “So maybe using Koreans… it’s a prudent thing to do.”
Johnston talked about deterrence from the PRC’s point of view.
“I’ll start by first saying that the Chinese have a different concept of the use of military force,” Johnston said. “The application of that force, to include lethal application, is to minimize the necessity to apply even more force in a larger circumstance… the military in their construct is one tool of many.”
Brunson agreed that understanding the perspective of the PRC is important, but he added that considering the strengths of allies, partners, and friends, in addition to the PRC, creates the strongest deterrent effect.
“A free and open Indo-Pacific… you can’t push back on that,” Brunson said. “It’s not just our flag, it’s the flags of the nations in the region coming together that will have a deterrent effect.”
An example Brunson gave was that the Washington Army National Guard and the 1-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 7th Infantry Division each use Strykers in Thailand.
But, I Corps cannot be everywhere at once. So they provided the Royal Thai Army the knowledge of maintenance and training of Strykers and, in turn, the Thai Soldiers gave information about the environment of where they’re being employed.
“Those things are what we have to start taking advantage of to realize that we can’t be everywhere all the time,” Brunson said. “But what’s most critical is the fact that we’re committed to our presence in the region.”
The panel concluded with an agreement that the effective form of deterrence comes from when all countries involved are ready and willing to contribute to their part in the region.
LANPAC 2023 was a three-day conference in Honolulu where government, military and industry representatives from across the region networked and discussed the needs and future of the Indo-Pacific Theater.
| Date Taken: | 05.17.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 05.23.2023 11:26 |
| Story ID: | 445081 |
| Location: | HONOLULU, HAWAII, US |
| Web Views: | 77 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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