Four retired Marine generals on how to rebuild America's crisis response force

The U.S. national security establishment has identified China as America's "pacing threat" and has reoriented military capabilities toward that threat. So be it. But identifying a primary threat does not mean the United States does not also need a "911" force to deal with fast-developing crises. Thoughtfully designed, such a force would also be able to contribute to a major war effort. If asked to design the ideal "911" force for our nation, we would build it with six distinct capabilities. First, it would be an expeditionary force-in-readiness, capable of rapidly deploying to a crisis area by sea and air….