Air Force Commander Prepares California Desert Community for Pearl Harbor-Like Strike by China

Such frank talk about the possible impact on a community around a U.S. military base, in the event of a war with China over Taiwan, is rare.

A B-52H Stratofortress carrying an AGM-183 Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon takes off from Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., on May 14, 2022. U.S. Air Force/Matt Williams via Reuters

Commentary

In May, the commander of Edwards Air Force Base in California talked openly about the need for local leaders to prepare for a Pearl Harbor-like strike on his base and others inside the United States.

Brig. Gen. Doug Wickert delivered “a sobering assessment of China’s growing military capabilities” in a briefing to community leaders, according to an Air Force statement. Wickert, commander of the 412th Test Wing, spoke at Antelope Valley College on May 7.

Edwards Air Force Base is in the Mojave Desert, about 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles.

According to the statement, Wickert referenced the 1941 attack on Naval Station Pearl Harbor in Hawaii in his briefing, drawing parallels to warnings about Pearl Harbor’s vulnerability before the attack.

Such frank talk about the possible impact on a community around a U.S. military base, in the event of a war with China over Taiwan, is rare.

Notably, Wickert’s comments appear to be fully endorsed and approved by the Department of Defense, signaling a changing attitude.

In January 2023, Gen. Mike Minihan, commander of Air Mobility Command, which controls much of the air transport and air refueling capacity of the Department of Defense, wrote in a letter to his command: “My gut tells me we will fight in 2025. [Chinese leader Xi Jinping] secured his third term and set his war council in October 2022.

“Taiwan’s presidential elections are in 2024 and will offer Xi a reason. United States’ presidential elections are in 2024 and will offer Xi a distracted America. Xi’s team, reason, and opportunity are all aligned for 2025.”

Minihan wrote the letter to prepare his command for conflict.

The Department of Defense quickly replied at the time, “These comments are not representative of the department’s view on China.”

A Wake-Up Call for Community Leaders

Wickert’s audience consisted of local community leaders, the leadership of critical infrastructure providers to the base, and members of Congress.

Rep. Vince Fong (R-Calif.) opened the briefing by discussing the necessity for stateside military installations to stay operational in the face of complex catastrophes, including military actions by adversaries.

Wickert compared Edwards, a massive facility focused on testing, research, and development, to its counterpart in the Chinese Air Force.

He presented intelligence data on the rapid modernization and “staggering” growth of the Chinese army, according to the statement. Using Google Earth imagery, he pointed to Dingxin Test and Training Base in the Gobi Desert, China’s equivalent to Edwards.

“The base sits next to a full-scale two-dimensional replica of Taiwan’s Taichung International Airport,” the statement reads.

Wickert said, “It’s kind of clear what their intention is.”

He cited Xi’s 2013 instructions to the Chinese military to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027. He made the connection to the local California community, stressing “the Antelope Valley’s crucial role in national defense and deterrence,” particularly Northrop Grumman’s B-21 Raider production line at nearby Air Force Plant 42 and the aircraft’s test and development facilities at Edwards.

A third facility close by is the General Atomics-owned Grey Butte Field Airport, used for drone production, training, and research.

“If I was Chairman Xi and it’s time to go [to war], guess what I’m going to target first?” Wickert asked. “So like it or not, we’re all in this together.”

The implication was clear: He expects the Chinese regime to target Edwards Air Force Base, nearby facilities, and all of the U.S. homeland as part of its efforts to seize Taiwan.

Critical Infrastructure Attacks

Critical infrastructure disruptions through cybermethods are likely the first way in which China will target the domestic U.S. military base environment.

Department of Defense military facilities are largely dependent upon local communities for power, water, sewage, information technology network connectivity, counter-drone efforts beyond the fence line, and many other basic services. U.S. military bases, for the most part, are not capable of extended continuity of operations without these local community partners, a key reason Wickert asked that community leaders be in attendance.

Coinciding with the identification of “Volt Typhoon”—a China-linked cyberespionage campaign—the United States passed its 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, including Section 1088, which directed a national tabletop exercise to assess “the resilience of domestic critical infrastructure and logistical choke points necessary for the United States Armed Forces to respond to a contingency involving Taiwan.”

Wickert may have been describing the role of his staff in the Section 1088 series of exercises when he described a recent week-long combat readiness exercise at Edwards Air Force Base.

“[The exercise] culminated with participation from local municipality emergency managers in a full-day tabletop drill,” he said. “The exercise simulated attacks on the regional power grid and persistent communication disruptions.”

Preventing War With China

Military preparedness is one aspect of deterring a conflict with China, Wickert pointed out.

“The more ready that we are, the more likely that we’re going to change Chairman Xi’s calculus,” he said.

However, thinking holistically and leveraging the complete spectrum of the United States’ instruments of national power—economic, financial, diplomatic, and military tools used to influence other countries—is critical, according to the general.

“The only way to win the next war is to prevent it from happening in the first place,” Wickert said.

The great power struggle between China and the United States is, first and foremost, a battle for economic dominance. It’s a battle to determine which country encumbers the world reserve currency chair.

The Chinese regime is using the current Salt Typhoon cyberattacks to degrade U.S. support for Taiwan.

That was revealed in the unprecedented high-level cybermeetings in Geneva in December 2024 between members of the Biden administration and their Chinese counterparts.

The Trump team has an opportunity to use the economic, financial, and diplomatic instruments of national power to degrade Chinese unrestricted warfare. If it takes advantage of that opportunity, it will minimize the likelihood of having to use the military instrument of national power to engage and defeat China in a war.