Elbridge Colby Interviewed in Defense One

Elbridge Colby, a panelist who helped write the 2018 National Defense Strategy as deputy assistant defense secretary for strategy and force development, said the Navy should talk far less about its role in safeguarding commerce and more about how it deters and fights wars. 

“It’s true that economic leverage is ultimately what the goal is. But the means is the Navy and Marine Corps as a denial force,” Colby said. “If you talk concretely about that, I think people will get it.”

A corollary to that, he said, is talking more directly about what it needs to deter and fight those wars.

“What does the Navy need to win a Taiwan fight at a reasonable cost and risk?” Colby said. Marine Commandant Gen. David Berger “is pretty clear about what the Marine Corps needs. Why isn’t the Navy clearer?”