The head of US Pacific Air Forces said Monday that the Air Force was clearing out jungles in the Pacific to build new airfields and restore old ones as part of the branch’s preparation for war with China in the region.
The Air Force is working to expand its bases as part of a plan to become more mobile in the Pacific, a concept known as Agile Combat Employment (ACE). Pacific Air Forces Commander Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach said the Air Force is looking for more money to facilitate the military buildup.
“We’re going to be clearing out the jungle [and] we’re going to be resurfacing some of the surfaces there so that we will have a fairly large and very functional Agile Combat Employment base, an additional base to be able to operate from and we have several other projects like that around the region that we’ll be getting after,” he said at the Air & Space Forces Association’s Air, Space & Cyber conference, according to Defense One.
“That takes resources to be able to accomplish and so those are some of the resources that I argue for when I go back to the headquarters,” Wilsbach added. He said the Air Force requested funds for additional construction in the Pacific for its 2024 military budget.
Wilsbach said that every new base in the region is a new area China would have to target. “Every single additional airfield that I can operate from is another in a contingency or crisis, or a conflict is another airfield that China has to put into their targeting folders and, and then allocate resources toward them, which dilutes their ability to shut us completely down,” he said.
The Biden administration has been working to expand the US military footprint in the Asia Pacific. This year, the US signed a deal with the Philippines to gain access to four new bases in the country and inked an agreement with Papua New Guinea to gain access to airports and sea ports in the Pacific island nation. The US is also expanding its presence in Australia under the AUKUS pact.
Wilsbach also has his eye on newer weapons and said the Air Force needs to modernize to face China. “There’s some modernization for some of our current platforms that are very critical for maintaining dominance in some of our mission areas because while we have been doing a lot of things in the Middle East in the last 20 years, China’s been resourcing for near-peer competition,” he said.
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall made similar comments at the conference. “The threat of attack from violent extremist organizations still exists, and we will address those threats as they occur. But China is by far our pacing challenge,” he said.
“Wilsbach said that every new base in the region is a new area China would have to target.”
Gee, don’t let the people living near those bases find out.
Seriously?!
The armed forces of the USA are not only the single biggest emitter of greenhouse gasses in the world, they add insult to injury by cutting down rain forests.
I Emailed my MP about the US Military being the largest emitter of green house gases his reply was laughable .
Beat me to it. And this isn’t provocation, right?
And you beat me to it too with the provocation part.
cutting down jungles = “That takes resources to be able to accomplish and so those are some of the resources that I argue for when I go back to the headquarters,” Wilsbach added. He said the Air Force requested funds for additional construction in the Pacific for its 2024 military budget.
right then. will those be funds in addition to the approx $1 TRILLION that the pentagon already receives every year? or will they have to start cutting corners like the regular guy tax-payers are having to do in order to cover the already cost of the pentagon budget.
“You know that useless swampland we’ve been trying to get rid of for the last 50 years…. Well, the Americans……”
USAF still dreaming of World War 2 and heavy bomber raids on Japan. Hope they remember it’s supposed to be China this time.
The US won`t take on China it will no doubt be another proxy war with Taiwan being the one doing the fighting , America dosen`t fight a military of equal standing never has never will .
Well … the American colonists took on the British Empire and gained their independence. So … there’s that.
With a little help from the French
“It also marked the culmination of years of Franco-American cooperation aimed at defeating the British. Motivated by their desire to humiliate the British,”
We should remember too, S.Korea, and Japan still are occupied nations as is Germany.
But the neocon train wreck is getting closer and closer to the brick wall by the cliff.
Let us hope so. our survival is at stake. I have zero confidence in any politician in either party to make a good decision.
Don’t worry, Biden is in charge of remembering that.
America doing what it does best looking for dragons to slay .
The business of urban America is war and business is good.
“Future’s so bright, I got to wear shades …”
I have heard and read this comment before and it still applies and will continue to do so until the cows come home or our system of government changes willingly or not.
Uh-oh, I think I see a ‘missile gap’ looming between China and the US. Time to ratchet up the defense budget.
Where have I heard this before?
I can’t describe my shame for the criminally insane Biden administration, and the irresponsible senile members of both parties in both houses in congress.
The criminal deceptive complicity of journalists with million $$ salaries in MSM is unforgivable.
By the Nuremberg tribunal standards all of them are war criminals.
Yes, the USA is a pariah federacy.
Absolutely on target.
And we the unfortunate peons who live here are royally screwed.
Finished already with their fine work at Bikini islands? Now give a big grateful thanks to the USA!
“US Air Force Clearing Out Jungles in Pacific for New Airfields”
Anyone do the GH gas footprint of all this? As in, contributing to a real threat to humanity as opposed to faked threats for the Complex?
“That takes real resources …”
$$$$$ there we go …
The GH footprints are getting bigger and bigger and get less and less mention in the news, see the LGP, the train wreck in Palestine, OH, nuclear accidents without any reports about consequences. We should not forget the millions of tons of asphalt and concrete covering our landscapes and causing flooding while creating the ugliest cities in the world.
Its only 2023 and the enviornment is cooked and so are we.
Anyone do the GH gas footprint of all this?
Waiting on the progressives.
re: The Air Force is currently on Tinian, a small island near Guam that was home to the largest B-29 bomber base during World War II . .
That’s two thousand miles from Shanghai.
But “only” 1,900 miles from Xiamen. And we already own it. And think of the nostalgia factor.
Only after issuing the appropriate Environmental Impact Statements, right Uncle Joey?
He does not know what you talk about. He needs to go to bed.
Is it me or are Air Force generals just a tad more fucked up in the head then their counterparts in the other services? And by no means is that a compliment to the other mind fucked ass kissers.
It’s the low-pressure air … messes up the brain …
And so then let the Chinese play whack-a-mole with us, if they like.
“US Air Force Clearing Out Jungles in Pacific for New Airfields The US Air Force is increasing its number of bases in the Pacific to prepare for a future war with China”
Maybe Zelensky can loan America enough money to go to war with China.
In other words, America needs more human shields for another world war and guess who gets signed up first (again!) by their Yankee Doodle quisling state? As if we haven’t put the Philippines through enough woodchippers yet. Where is the Huk when you need them?
Twenty years ago, Donald Rumsfeld called these “Lily pads” and wanted such ready-to-go bases around the whole world, ready for the US forces to show up.
These then included Khanabad Air Base (K2), in Uzbekistan, beginning in 2001. We got thrown out, in the middle of using it for the Afghan War, costing us billions. It was an empire building concept that was half thought out even then, presuming the world would support whatever war we chose to fight on their lily pad. See https://www.airuniversity.af.edu/Portals/10/ASPJ/journals/Chronicles/schwalbe5.pdf