A four-star Air Force general predicted that the United States and China will be at war in two years and instructed his subordinates to prepare by firing “a clip” at a target and “aiming for the head.” Gen. Mike Minihan, commander of Air Mobility Command, wrote in a document issued on Friday that NBC News was able to receive, “I pray I am incorrect. My instinct is I’ll fight in 2025. With approximately 50,000 service men and close to 500 aircraft, Air Mobility Command is in charge of transportation and refueling.
In the letter, Minihan predicted that because both Taiwan and the United States will hold presidential elections in 2024, Xi Jinping, the president of China, will have a chance to intervene on Taiwan while the United States will be “distracted.”
Building “a fortified, ready, integrated, and nimble Joint Force Maneuver Team ready to fight and win inside the first island chain” is one of his preparation goals, which he spells out in detail. All Air Mobility Command air wing commanders as well as other operational commanders of the Air Force are instructed in the signed memo to report to Minihan by February 28 any significant preparations made for the China campaign.
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He orders all AMC employees to “fire a clip into a 7-meter target with full understanding that unrepentant lethality counts most” during the month of February. Take aim at the head. Additionally, he advises everyone to update their emergency contacts and paperwork. All AMC employees are to “examine their personal affairs and whether a visit should be scheduled with their servicing base legal office to ensure they are legally ready and prepared,” according to his March directive.
They are urged by Minihan to take some risks while training. However, he then adds, “If you are comfortable in your attitude to training, then you are not taking enough risk.” He advises to “run deliberately, not recklessly.”
Additionally, he offers a glimpse into one tool that the United States is studying for a potential battle with China: commercial drone swarms. In order to “deliver 100 off-the-shelf size and type UAVs from a single aircraft,” he instructs the KC-135 units.
This is a legitimate internal document from General Minihan delivered to his subordinate command teams, an AMC official said in a statement on Friday. In order to prepare the Mobility Air Forces for potential confrontation should deterrence fail, Air Mobility Command began laying the groundwork for this order last year.
Taiwan is unquestionably one of [China’s] aspirations, Adm. Philip Davidson, then-commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, stated in March 2021 during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. In fact, the threat will become apparent in the following six years, according to Davidson.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin responded, “What we’re witnessing recently is some extremely provocative behavior on the part of China’s troops and their attempt to re-establish a new normal,” when asked earlier this month whether a Chinese invasion of Taiwan was imminent.
Austin remarked, “But whether or not that means an invasion is imminent, I highly doubt that.” Throughout order to ensure that we advance peace and stability… in the region as a whole, we will continue to watch and cooperate with our allies and partners.
