The Asianist

Asahi Online reports:

As part of the transformation of the U.S. forces, plans are progressing in the Asia-Pacific region for a fundamental realignment of the command and control structure as well as the deployment of new combat capabilities.

Those moves are designed to create a more effective force posture to fight terrorism and to maintain and enhance deterrence capabilities against China and North Korea.

In the background is the recognition that the strategic environment in the region is deteriorating due in part to the rapid modernization of China's military.

The US is looking to Japan to help balance a rising Chinese military:

American officials are placing greater expectations on strengthening cooperation with Japan on a deterrence strategy in the Asia-Pacific region as well as the global war against terrorism.

The center piece of the transformation is establishing "warfighting headquarters":

One symbol of the transformation of the command and control structure is an establishment of a new warfighting headquarters in Hickam Air Force Base outside of Honolulu...

Plans call for establishing 10 such warfighting headquarters around the world...

That network would allow the U.S. Air Force to become more effective and efficient. According to Major General Gary L. North, director for operations at Pacific Command, one possibility would be to "have the work being done for planning for Iraq done by the Kenney warfighting headquarters" in Hawaii.

Pacific Command is one of nine unified commands in the U.S. military. It has the largest area of responsibility (AOR), which extends from the west coast of the United States to the east coast of Africa. There are 43 nations, including Japan, within that area. The total number of troops under the command is about 300,000.

Here is an interesting part:

The AOR of Pacific Air Forces was divided into four. Japan is covered by the 5th Air Force headquartered at Yokota Air Base; the Korean Peninsula is covered by the 7th Air Force headquartered at Osan Air Base; the northern Pacific is covered by the 11th Air Force headquartered at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska; and the south Pacific and Indian Ocean was covered by the 13th Air Force, previously headquartered at Andersen Air Force Base on Guam.

Under the latest realignment, all areas with the exception of the Korean Peninsula falls under the command of Kenney Headquarters. A separate warfighting headquarters will be set up in South Korea.

Of course, this means that the danger of a new war in Korea merits a separate warfighting headquarters of its own in the Korean peninsula, but it could also mean that the US could deactivate the headquarters and withdraw completely from South Korea with minimal disruption to the rest of the "network," something that ought to give some pause for thought for our South Korean "allies."

Then there is the issue of preparing for the current war (the so-called War on Terror) while pondering a future warfighting scenario (a potential war against China):

Meanwhile, analysts have pointed to the difficulties facing the Pacific Command to deal with two separate strategic tasks, the war against terrorism as well as serving as a deterrence against China and North Korea.

"A concentration (of forces) on Northeast Asia is at odds with the emerging threat (of terrorism) in Southeast Asia," said Thomas A. Bowditch, a special assistant to the deputy commander of the Pacific Command. Bowditch is involved in the discussions on the realignment of U.S. troops in Japan as well. "The commander is pulled in two directions. This is his most difficult dilemma with regard to his force posture."

This is the burden of the hegemon. He has to prepare for all major contingencies. Unlike some of his allies, a hegemon cannot specialize in specific tasks -- the US has to be simulataneously prepared to fight a "low-intensity" war against terror cells, fight a major land war in the Middle East, guard against a conventional air-sea war in the South China Sea, all the while considering the threat posed by a nuclear-armed North Korea.