As war continues in Ukraine, Chinese global infrastructure and resource dominance grow daily. In South America alone, Chinese trade has increased by a factor of 26 in two decades, from $12 billion to $315 billion, according to the World Economic Forum. China’s “blue water” navy will be fully operational by 2030, providing strategic overreach onto the U.S. continent. Coupled with the simplicity and effectiveness of cyberattacks, major U.S. ports, rail and utility networks are in jeopardy. Simply put, China now can challenge a large-scale U.S. military domestic deployment from its installations to ports of embarkment.

The U.S. military’s ability to deploy globally from the homeland for conflict, once seen as an American strategic advantage, has eroded into an unrealized challenge for the Department of War. The days of oceans isolating a U.S. military mobilization are gone. DoW must develop commercial transportation incentives, conduct whole-of-government mobilization exercises and educate Americans on domestic fort-to-port operations to help regain America’s strategic advantage.

Domestic Mobilization

DoW must rapidly incentivize commercial air, land and sea transportation partners for domestic mobilization movement. Currently, U.S. Army Transportation Command, formerly known as Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command, and the Air Force’s Air Mobility Command provide their parent, U.S. Transportation Command, programs and partnerships that apportion commercial transporter contracts for routine domestic movement of personnel and equipment. However, these movements require weeks—and often months—of planning, coordination and execution for simple, uncontested deliveries.

To meet Indo-Pacific Theater force requirements in today’s challenged environment, a mobilization event necessitates movement from a military installation to the port of embarkation within days of notification. Hence, DoW must develop and establish contracted premiums to these commercial partners, as “expediting” movement of military equipment should be no different than that of commercial goods. With such an incentive, these transportation partners will receive the future short-term returns coveted by Wall Street investors while simultaneously supporting the “whole-of-country” mobilization effort.

Concurrently, the U.S. must exercise domestic mobilization movements through a whole-of-
government approach. Fortunately, this framework for federal, state and local emergency coordination exists based upon post-Hurricane Katrina development of the National Response Framework and National Incident Management System. Agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Transportation Department team with municipal, state and industry partners and conduct large-scale domestic exercises for natural and human-caused disasters. 

Priority Exercises

In lieu of a current “America’s Worst Day” exercise scenario, a fort-to-port scenario can exercise the U.S. military’s domestic mobilization movement while discovering and addressing recoverable gaps in the interstate transportation system.

These exercises will provide opportunities to prioritize service-specific transportation requirements and build upon existing mobilization competencies. Practice may not make perfect, but it surely will contribute to friction reduction between governmental agencies and the commercial transportation market as the nation trains as a mobility enterprise.

Finally, an enterprise-wide information and messaging plan is needed to educate Americans on the criticality of fort-to-port initiatives.

While industry incentives and exercises will help the U.S. prepare for fort-to-port operations, leaders must mentally and emotionally prepare the populace for a large-scale domestic mobilization movement.

The government must share its story via multiple mediums. Similar to DoW-FEMA training events, the government must own the narrative and share the rationale behind military mobilization readiness. Exposing the populace to this information not only builds trust and confidence, it creates inherent resiliency through shared understanding of federal, state and municipal goals. This concept has been well institutionalized throughout local military communities, but it must be translated to nonmilitary neighborhoods as well.

This information and messaging strategy adds two positive side effects: Elimination of conspiracy theories and building resiliency during a true mobilization. Knowledge is power—expose the populace to mass military movement exercises in peacetime to own the narrative during conflict.

Critics may argue that preparedness for domestic fort-to-port operations by contractually incenti­vizing commercial transportation carriers in time of need will cost billions. Others may criticize the lack of a tangible “rate of return” associated with conducting large-scale domestic mobility and mobilization exercises. Such claims fail to understand the social and fiscal effects of an ill-prepared and unrehearsed fort-to-port mobilization: closed roadways, stay-in-place governmental mandates and chaotic transportation supply chains of commercial and industrial goods and services.

Fiscal Alternative

One needs to look no further than the Colonial Pipeline cyberattack of 2021 that led to emergency declarations for 17 states and the District of Columbia, air travel disruptions and immeasurable domestic economic impacts far exceeding Colonial’s $4.4 million ransom payment. Preparedness via industry incentives, whole-of-government mobilization exercises and a continuous information campaign would manifest a cheaper fiscal alternative while preserving America’s freedoms during a contested mobilization.

Today’s global competition and security environment demand readiness in a contested homeland. While U.S. commercial and military transport ships and military airlift fleet remain ready to cross broad oceans against a near-peer threat, reliance on uninterrupted and routine domestic mobilization movements no longer exists. The U.S. will face unforeseen and dynamic threats on its soil as the U.S. military deploys from ports of embarkation. Domestic freedom of maneuver remains crucial to U.S. National Security Strategy principles. The U.S. and its military must change, prepare and train for large-scale domestic fort-to-port contested movement now.

Maj. Gen. Ernest Litynski, U.S. Army Reserve retired, is president and co-owner of RBP Chemical Technology, a multinational chemistry company in industries such as electronics and implantable medical device manufacturing. He served 32 years in the Regular Army and the Army Reserve and commanded at every level through division command. He is a 1994 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, and holds three master’s degrees.