These are the biggest challenges facing the US Army in the Pacific, according to a general readying for the next war

At the Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center exercise in Hawaii earlier this month, the training’s biggest iteration yet, over 10,000 personnel from across the joint force and from US international allies and partners wargamed a fight against a top adversary.

JPMRC is unique in its scale and goals. Troops also rotate through Alaska in the winter, helping soldiers adapt to frigid Arctic temperatures and warfighting in a truly unforgiving environment.

In each case, the training prioritizes preparing the Army to be flexible in its future fighting, as the Pacific, the Pentagon’s priority theater, is defined by a range of environments.

The drills also allow the Army to work out any issues in its readiness, from how to transport troops across the region to remaining hidden from the enemy and sustaining its forces. “It is really hard to replicate that other than just training here in the region,” Evans said.

At night, soldiers “are less observable,” Evans said, adding that “nighttime enhances protection” and gives them “the ability to hide amongst the noise.”

In places like the Philippines, the Army practices moving soldiers and equipment around, studying road networks and the environment to understand how they can be leveraged or constrain operations.

JPMRC also lets soldiers test new assets and weapons and adapt to future warfare problems, such as electronic warfare, which has become a major component of the war in Ukraine. Evans said the Army was taking lessons from the conflict, including how to handle the sensor and surveillance threat.

“Sustainment is one of the things that we are focusing on in this training because of the disparate nature of the region,” Evans explained. “We have to be able to resupply the formations that we have spread out across the Pacific, and we’re challenged with the tyranny of distance, and we’re challenged, quite frankly, with the geography.”

The Pacific is a predominantly maritime domain. To adapt to that, the Army has focused on how it can take advantage of maritime or air assets to move between islands and how it can maintain its operational tempo.

“Every time we send a C-17 or we put equipment on a vessel to move as part of this exercise, we are getting a repetition that enhances overall readiness,” the general said.