Brent Sadler
Heritage Foundation
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Past articles by Brent:
U.S. Should Press Tokyo to Free Jailed Navy Lieutenant
U.S. and Japanese diplomatic and military leaders on Wednesday will meet for the annual “2+2” dialogue. → Read More
Applying Lessons of the Naval War in Ukraine for a Potential War with China
The naval war between Ukraine and Russia offers important insights for a potential U.S. fight with China, likely over Taiwan. Most critically, Ukraine’s ability to blunt Russia’s initial attack has not been lost on Taipei or Washington, and Russia’s lackluster naval performance is a reminder to not take naval dominance for granted. Fundamentally, the U.S. must help make a Chinese invasion of… → Read More
NDAA’s Boost in Defense Spending Sends Message to Russia, China
Congress has overruled President Biden—again. The bipartisan-negotiated National Defense Authorization Act sailed through the Senate last week, just as it did in the House a week earlier. The bill authorizes defense spending $45 billion above what the president had requested, the better to address the threat from China. That’s a good decision for the nation as a whole, and it looks to be a… → Read More
Lowering Standards for Navy Recruiting Is Hiring in Bad Faith
Every employer—public or private—recruits workers. What sets military recruiting apart is the nature and the stakes involved in the work to be done: The job is defending the nation, and the penalties for failure are death and defeat. With stakes this high, recruiting standards should be high as well. They are vital to both the nation’s defense and the recruit’s survival. → Read More
The U.S. Navy Must Grow To Confront China (but We Must Study Past Sins)
China’s threats against Taiwan, backed by a rapidly modernized and expanded U.S. Navy, fuel the urgency to grow the U.S. Naval and Maritime fleet. However, rising to such challenges does not absolve our government from accountability for past sins—notably those still impacting the U.S. Navy from 20 years ago. → Read More
China’s Growing Naval, Air Operations in East Asia Represent Dangerous “New Normal’”
With the completion of China’s 20th Communist Party Congress, which included President Xi Jinping’s renewed vow to reunify the country with Taiwan, the future of a peaceful Asia is at greater risk. That danger is made all the more real by an increased Chinese military presence surrounding Taiwan and Japan’s southwestern islands. → Read More
A Modern Naval Act to Meet the Surging China Threat
China’s increasing belligerence and Russia’s flagrant violations of long-standing international borders in Ukraine have shone a spotlight on America’s weak defense posture. Sadly, the nation’s first line of defense and most effective means of distant deterrence of Chinese adventurism, the U.S. Navy, has been unable to build the fleet needed to confront this rapidly changing world. → Read More
On Its 247th Birthday, U.S. Navy Is on Watch 24/7
The U.S. Navy on Thursday will celebrate its 247th birthday, and organizations such as the Navy League will be helping many of us celebrate the day. Unfortunately, all too often, it seems like there’s nothing but bad news out there, making this a good time to reflect on the good news—and there’s quite a bit of it. → Read More
Woke Ideology Has Metastasized in U.S. Military. It Will Take Time to Remove Its Divisive Influence.
Efforts to uncover the prevalence of woke, divisive critical race theory-based equity training and policies in the military are bringing to light an extensive problem. → Read More
Cancer of CRT, Gender Ideology Spreading in Woke U.S. Military
Efforts to uncover the prevalence of woke, divisive critical race theory-based equity training and policies in the military are bringing to light an extensive problem. → Read More
America’s Dependence on China Is a Crisis in the Making
America’s supply chain crisis is far from over. Persistent backlogs at West Coast ports have led shippers to reroute their cargoes to the east. As a result, container ships now sit offshore at ports such as New York, Houston, and Savannah, waiting in queue to offload. → Read More
Don’t Close the Navy’s Main Pacific Fuel-Storage Facility Without a Real Replacement
The Navy‘s rush to shutter its primary fuel storage site in the Pacific without a ready replacement poses serious national-security issues, especially with growing tensions in the region with China, Russia and North Korea. After years of mismanagement, fuel leaks at the Red Hill storage facility in Honolulu had gotten so out of hand that they threatened Hawaii’s water supply. The secretary of… → Read More
The Navy’s Fleet Plan Has Two Strikes Against It
Recently, the Navy quietly submitted a report required by the fiscal 2022 defense authorization bill. Thes classified report apparently details the number and type of warships needed to execute the national defense strategy. → Read More
With Ground War Bogged Down, Ukraine Should Turn to Sea to Speed Russia’s Defeat
The war in the Donbas region between Russia and Ukraine is settling down to a series of small attacks and tenacious defenses. Deliveries of U.S. and allied military equipment are key but not in the quantities necessary to make them decisive. All this points to the conflict taking the form of a war of attrition. → Read More
Guam Needs Effective Missile Defense Now, Not in 2028
The Pentagon recently announced plans to strengthen missile defenses on Guam in 2028. While the decision represents progress, there’s a problem: The defenses may arrive too late to protect the island from China. Experts have repeatedly warned that, in a war over Taiwan, Beijing would almost certainly attack this strategically important U.S. → Read More
To Deter China, the U.S. Navy Must Build a Connected Fleet at a Faster Pace
The Navy is struggling to replace one of its most successful designs: a warhorse of the Navy, the large surface combatant Arleigh Burke–class guided-missile destroyer. It is also struggling to replace the Cold War–era Ticonderoga-class cruiser, another warhorse. The Ticonderoga cruiser’s potential successor, the Zumwalt-class destroyer, petered out at only three ships. → Read More
One-time Defense Budget Increase Won’t Be Sufficient to Deter China
In recent comments on the defense budget, Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va., rightly declared the standard for determining an appropriate level of defense funding should be the ability to adequately deter China. Unfortunately, too many statesmen have underestimated China’s intentions to supplant the U.S. and current rules-based order, while political leadership has preferred to defer tough budget choices… → Read More
Time to Slow Cook China’s South China Sea Frog?
Since the 1992 departure of U.S. forces from bases in the Philippines, Chinese encroachment and provocations in the South China Sea have increased continuously. The lack of U.S. strategic attention and sustained naval presence has opened a maritime governance vacancy that the Chinese Communist Party and its military have gradually filled. Left unchecked, the situation imperils U.S. alliances and… → Read More
U.S. Navy’s Edge on China Dwindling and Lawmakers Don’t Care
The Navy’s advantage over our biggest military adversary, China, is dwindling rapidly. Yet some House leaders overseeing national defense don’t seem too worried about it. Earlier this month, the chairs of the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee and the House Armed Services Committee followed up with a misleading, albeit reassuring, qualitative comparison of the two navies with a comforting… → Read More
Navy “Eases the Rudder” With Its Recommended Readings
The chief of naval operations released his new recommended reading list on May 5, which thankfully threw overboard several divisive books. Last year’s list included books that veered from the Navy’s core missions and espoused critical race theory and extreme positions on sexual orientation. → Read More