America’s Overlooked Asymmetric Advantage

Ian Whitfield

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Contemporary conflict is increasingly defined by the demands of protracted competition and high-intensity warfare. The increased proliferation of once-asymmetric capabilities, the rapid adaptation cycle of technology, and the convergence of threats across domains have created an operating environment where sustaining advantage depends as much on resilience and mobilization as on initial force deployment. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is nearing its fourth year and highlights how modern conflict can stretch national resources, erode manpower reserves, and require constant adaptation across the military and industrial base. Similarly, Israel’s ongoing conflicts in the Middle East underscores the challenge of sustaining combat power and mobilization over extended periods while balancing simultaneous domestic, regional, and international pressures. While it is impossible to predict the character of future conflicts, such wars underscore the realistic and dangerous possibility of protracted conflict, a scenario which United States military leaders must consider in planning for tomorrow’s war.

In such an environment, the military reserve component represents a reservoir of manpower, skills, and professional experience that remains largely underutilized. Effective mobilization of reserve forces is not simply about the active-reserve rotations the United States experienced during its most recent prolonged conflict. Rather, the unrealized strength of reserve forces lies in aligning personnel with the missions where their unique expertise provides the greatest strategic value. While the American defense apparatus is focused on fielding drones and implementing artificial intelligence, both of which are important, the structure lacks a modernized system for capturing and organizing data on reservists’ professional skills, civilian careers, and specialized knowledge. In the event of a conflict that stretches across time and geography, the United States risks entering the next conflict with an incomplete picture of how best to employ one of its most versatile assets.