Webinar | War-Footing: A Top U.S. General Orders War Preparations to Deter the CCP

Will the Rest of the Military Do the Same?

General Mike Minihan USAF recently issued a dramatic order to his 107,000 subordinates in the Air Mobility Command warning that the United States may be at war with Communist China by 2025. He has directed the men and women responsible for air transportation and aerial refueling for the Air Force and other armed services to begin immediately taking steps to train and operate with a view to increasing America’s deterrent to Chinese aggression at the earliest possible time.

The general also tasked members of his command with innovating. For example, he asked them to explore the possibility of using KC-135 tankers as platforms for swarms of unmanned aerial vehicles – a power-projection option using available assets to enhance deterrence and, if needed, U.S. warfighting capabilities.

Particularly importantly, Gen. Minihan made clear that he was issuing these dramatic orders himself, would be following up with monthly updates and will be personally monitoring and evaluating compliance with his directives going forward.

Unfortunately, but unsurprisingly, the Biden Pentagon says Gen. Minihan’s “comments are not representative of the Department’s view on China.” It is unclear at present whether that means the general’s orders will be countermanded. That would be a potentially fatal mistake.

This CPDC webinar assesses the significance of General Minihan’s warning order; whether the caliber of leadership it represents will prove to be inspiring to and manifested by others in America’s armed forces and, ideally, those of its allies and partners; and what else needs to be done now to deter – and, if necessary, to defeat – CCP aggression.

Moderator:

- Frank Gaffney, executive chairman of the Center for Security Policy, host of Securing America with Frank Gaffney on Real America’s Voice Network, and vice-chair for the Committee on the Present Danger: China

Panelists:

- Lieutenant General William “Jerry” Boykin, U.S. Army (Ret.), former Commanding Officer, Delta Force and former Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence

- Captain James Fanell, U.S. Navy (Ret.), former Chief of Intelligence, U.S. Pacific Fleet

- Colonel Robert Maness, U.S. Air Force (Ret.), former Commanding Officer of a bomber squadron; former Vice Commander of America’s largest Airborne Intelligence Wing; former Commander, Kirtland Air Force Base

- Colonel Grant Newsham, U.S. Marine Corps, (Ret.), former Reserve Head of Intelligence, Marine Forces Pacific; former Defense Attaché, Embassy Tokyo; former Foreign Service Officer

- Colonel Derek Harvey, U.S. Army (Ret.), former Senior Analyst for Iraq, Joint Staff Directorate for Intelligence, former Chief, Commander’s Assessments and Initiatives Group, Iraq; former Professional Staff Member, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence

- Dr. Bradley Thayer, PhD, Director, China Program, Center for Security Policy, co-author, Understanding the China Threat

https://presentdangerchina.org/webinar-war-footing-a-top-u-s-general-orders-war-preparations-to-deter-the-ccp/