What They Can Do
American Generals And Admirals, That Is
They can brief their civilian bosses that The USA are unable to conduct combined arms military operations at scale overseas on one front much less on two fronts simultaneously.
They can brief their civilian bosses that The USA lack depth in engineering skill, industrial capacity, patriotic resilience, personal stamina, professional competence, professional availability, and military TOEs — including sea and air lift — to conduct military operations against any but so-called non-state actors1 and militarily weak states in The USA near abroad, the Western Hemisphere.2
They can brief their civilian bosses that their cohort of serving Officers, to include civilian SES counterparts, are too compromised militarily, intellectually, professionally, and morally to inspire troop recruitment and retention sufficient to conduct meaningful combined arms (Joint Arms Force) military operations at any scale overseas, meaning, away from lines of communication interior to the Western Hemisphere.
They can brief their civilian bosses that The USA are not a Tier I global military power and have no means or need of becoming one. If the Saudis know it, everyone knows it. The USA are a Tier II regional military power, that is, within the comm lines of the Western Hemisphere.
They can brief their civilian bosses that today there is one Tier I global military power, Russia, and one Tier II global military power, China, who aspires to global Tier I status, although no longer to global hegemony.3 India and Iran are Tier II regional military powers, along with Brazil, Pakistan, and Japan. Iran aspires and is close to being a Tier I regional military power as well as a Tier II global power. All West Eurasian powers — Europeans — including The UK, are Tier IV regional military powers headed towards Tier V status. Israel is a Tier II regional military power headed towards Tier III status.
They can brief their civilian bosses that The USA are a Tier III global military power and a Tier II regional military power because, excepting her submarine fleet, (1) her key war-fighting doctrine and technology are obsolete by at least two and more likely three generations, and (2) her schools do not produce, indeed, have no interest in producing, deep echelons of engineers capable and willing to make The USA even a Tier II global military power, such as China is and Iran is becoming.
They can brief their civilian bosses that The US Congress long since and willingly — perhaps even intentionally — consigned The USA to Tier III global military status and show no interest in changing that condition except perhaps yet more downwards.
They can brief their civilian bosses that Americans’ and Congress’ century-old fascination with air power as the supreme and nearly all-sufficient factor in military operations is dangerously obsolete and must be superseded immediately, without delay or demurrer, by serious, level-headed development of Joint Arms Force doctrine and practice coincident with a firm rejection of branch and service rivalry. Branch and service partnership is the order of the day. No rivalry. It is unaffordable.
They can brief their civilian bosses that The USA Joint Arms Force comprises five components — Space Air Cyber Sea Land — who must be able and practiced to act in securely networked unison to achieve the mission of the Land Force component. The mission of the Land Force governs, must govern, the operations of the US Joint Arms Force.
They can brief their civilian bosses that The USA, in addition to The Joint Arms Force, requires a small but lethal and exceptionally accomplished Special Force having high mobility and readiness along with simple, tailored logistical streams. It might be named LASH, for Land Air Sea Hasty. Components of the Special Force exist in the extant branches. These components have empowering them already a unified but not yet truly Joint Arms Force doctrine and command system. Special Force requires to be fashioned to its own nature from fully Joint Arms Force doctrine, training, and TOEs, which are themselves yet to be thought through, trialed, and adopted.4
They can brief their civilian bosses that GDP is not a measure of military capability and budget cannot buy the same. Engineering genius and patriotic spirit measure military capability, along with industrial production capability — commodities, not value appreciation of financial instruments (bets) — and depth in spiritual serenity. Budget buys what it buys: garbage in garbage out, wisdom in wisdom out.
They can brief their civilian bosses that a reasonable US military force contemplates TOEs for (1) a Standing Force for Homeland Defense and (2) a Special Force for rare and brief Punitive Expeditions.
They can brief their civilian bosses that the days of using US military assets to wedge in and hold open opportunities overseas for US-based financial speculators, manufacturers, and merchants are over. Federal authority and military power exist for the benefit of all Americans, not favored cohorts of the same.
Of which there are none.
Originally, the Monroe Doctrine meant what The USA will protect. Now it means what The USA cannot protect.
China adjusted her aspirations while observing developments of Russia’s SMO in 404 Ukraine. She noted her dependency in food and energy on other nations across great waters or already a Tier I global military power — Russia. She no longer seeks global hegemony because she sees that such is beyond her independent means. This awareness is realistic and rational on China’s part. The world has grown up a whole lot observing that SMO. The SMO — including especially that it is an SMO, not a war — speaks volumes yet unfathomed.
Always only provisionally, until circumstances demand adjustments if not rewrites.