Strengthen Our Defense

Protecting America at Home and Abroad

A strong U.S. military is a robust American defense. The United States can build a more robust defense posture in the regions where it is required by pursuing key strategies and continuously adapting to evolving threats. In doing so, we can safeguard national security and protect our interests at home and abroad.

If you have any doubt about our need for a strong U.S. military, look at the threat that a rising China, a belligerent Russia, a saber-rattling North Korea, an insurgent Venezuela, and an unpredictable Iran pose to United States security interests. Couple those threats with Islamist terrorism, Middle Eastern instability, and foreign aggression in many forms, and it should be evident that we are facing a host of potential and actual state-sponsored violence that could threaten the world order.

I am a determined advocate for a powerful and modernized U.S. military, which necessitates a highly comprehensive approach to various aspects of military, diplomatic, technological, and economic capabilities.

Here are key strategies that I believe enhance U.S. defense capabilities:

• Modernization of U.S. military forces: Modernizing our military equipment, platforms, and capabilities will ensure readiness and effectiveness in addressing current and future threats. These threats and modernization include upgrading existing systems, developing next-generation technologies, and maintaining a robust research and development program.

• Innovative strategic planning and prioritization: Conducting thorough strategic assessments to identify the nation's most pressing threats and challenges is essential. Prioritizing defense investments and resource allocation based on these assessments to maximize effectiveness and efficiency is called for without question.

• Alliance building and diplomacy based on principles of integrity: Strengthening U.S. alliances and partnerships with like-minded countries to enhance collective security and deterrence capabilities goes with our most pressing strategies for improving and expanding U.S. military capability.  We must collaborate closely with our allies on military exercises, intelligence sharing, and joint defense initiatives to promote stability and counter shared threats, particularly with partners aligned with NATO.

• A robust deterrence and defense posture: Maintaining a credible deterrence posture to dissuade potential adversaries from engaging in aggression against the United States or its allies is critical. This includes maintaining a robust nuclear deterrent, forward-deploying forces in key regions, and demonstrating resolve through military exercises and presence.

• Investing in cybersecurity: The United States must recognize the growing importance of cybersecurity in modern warfare and invest in capabilities to defend against cyber threats. Developing offensive cyber capabilities to deter adversaries and protect critical infrastructure from cyberattacks is a high priority and should be planned with America’s military academies at West Point, Annapolis, and Colorado Springs.

• Counter-terrorism operations: Prioritizing counter-terrorism efforts to disrupt and defeat terrorist organizations that pose a threat to U.S. interests and homeland security remains at the forefront of American defense capabilities. This includes intelligence gathering, targeted military operations, and cooperation with international partners.

• Resilience and preparedness: Enhancing resilience and preparedness to withstand and recover from various threats, including natural disasters, pandemics, and terrorist attacks, is strategically wise for the United States. Investing in infrastructure, emergency response capabilities, and continuity of government planning to ensure resilience in the face of adversity is the plan.

• Investing in human capital: Recruiting, training, and retaining a skilled and diverse workforce to support the defense needs of the nation is also essential to American security interests regionally as well as globally. Providing professional development opportunities, competitive compensation, and support for military personnel, civilian employees, and contractors, would serve America’s interests across many fronts.

• Adapting to emerging threats: American policymakers and elected officials should stay ahead of emerging threats by continuously monitoring global developments, technological advancements, and geopolitical trends. Adapting defensive strategies and capabilities to address evolving challenges, such as hybrid warfare, disinformation campaigns, and asymmetric threats, is paramount.

• Transparency and accountability: To build and nurture trust with the American public, ensuring transparency and accountability in defense policies, spending, and decision-making processes is without question. The best-advised protocol for a more robust U.S. military presence and operation is to maintain strong oversight mechanisms, congressional scrutiny, and independent reviews to promote accountability and public trust.