April 20, 2017
The Mysterious Case of the Wayward Aircraft Carrier
There is a sobering reality beyond this week’s strange “Where’s Waldo?” story of the USS Carl Vinson and its strike group: For a period of time, significant confusion existed as to the location of a U.S. aircraft carrier strike group, one of the most potent weapons in the American arsenal, at a moment of high tension on the Korean Peninsula.
Although not (yet) a major crisis, this incident portends deep problems with the White House, its chain of command, and its approach to national security. At best, The Vinson episode suggests policy gaps between the president and his top military advisers over how to act toward North Korea. Worse, it appears the president has not firmly established control over the chain of command—or that he possibly overdelegated authority to his generals and admirals. Further, this incident sends deeply disturbing signals to allies and adversaries regarding the president’s control over the military and the credibility of his statements, diluting the deterrent value of American words and actions.
Let’s start with two fundamental premises of U.S. civil-military relations. First, the president is the elected commander in chief of the military; short of declaring war, he has the power to order military deployments and operations, and be held politically accountable for them. Second, the president ought to know with accuracy the locations and readiness of major U.S. military assets, and have the ability to command those forces as needed to protect the country.
Read the full article at Slate.
More from CNAS
-
Commentary
National Security Human Capital
The Kid Rock Flyby Controversy and the Erosion of Military ProfessionalismAdherence to high standards and a willingness to conduct investigations when those standards may have been violated are a feature of the American military and contribute in no...
By Dr. Jason Dempsey
-
Podcast
Defense / Indo-Pacific Security
Hellscape Taiwan: Drones, Deterrence, and the Future of Asymmetric DefenseStacie Pettyjohn joined the Irregular Warfare Podcast to examine how Taiwan could deter—or potentially defeat—a Chinese invasion by transforming the Taiwan Strait into an “unm...
By Stacie Pettyjohn
-
Cubans Brace for U.S. "Invasion" as Tensions Rise
Video
Becca Wasser, adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, joined CNN’s Good Morning with Audie Cornish to discuss escalating tensions between the U.S. and...
By Becca Wasser
-
Podcast
National Security Human Capital
Beyond the Selective Service MythsThe debate over resuming the draft often resurfaces during global tension, yet its complexities remain misunderstood. Editor-in-Chief JP Clark sits down with experts William T...
By Katherine L. Kuzminski
