The FY 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), signed into law by President Donald Trump in early December, includes a provision for a study focused on Reserve force mobilization “to assess the capability of the Armed Forces to respond to a high-intensity contingency in the Indo-Pacific region,” reported Air Force Times. The law requires the secretary of defense and chairman of the Joint Chiefs to collaborate with the commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command to assess the military’s ability to “rapidly mobilize, deploy, and sustain active and reserve component forces in response to a conflict scenario involving the Taiwan Strait, South China Sea, or similar Indo-Pacific flashpoint.”
The provision is based on a 21-day mass mobilization exercise, called “Nifty Nugget,” run by the Department of Defense in October 1978 to simulate what would happen if it needed to mobilize all U.S. forces globally in the face of an existential conflict. It apparently didn’t go too well. Due to major holes in planning, communication and logistics, up to half a million troops were late to the fight, and the conflict resulted in 400,000 U.S. casualties, according to the Times. While the exercise did result in useful insights, such as helping to prompt the creation of U.S. Transportation Command in 1987, the concept of a mass mobilization exercise was summarily shelved.
Now Congress is demanding a study, modeled on Nifty Nugget, to find out if the US military could mobilize for war on China. The law requires the secretary of defense and chairman of the Joint Chiefs to collaborate with the commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command to assess the military’s ability to “rapidly mobilize, deploy, and sustain active and reserve component forces in response to a conflict scenario involving the Taiwan Strait, South China Sea, or similar Indo-Pacific flashpoint.”
The mandated study also needs to include an evaluation of strategic lift, sustainment and logistics capabilities; analysis of interagency coordination procedures; an evaluation of joint and allied interoperability “with particular attention to coordination mechanisms with Japan, Australia, the Philippines, and Taiwan”; and the creation of an inventory of the civilian job and education skills within the military’s Reserve component.
A report from the study, due two years from now, must include findings and recommendations, including best practices, and a data analysis that shows how many reservists are likely to be available to reinforce active units in combat in the first 30, 60 and 90 days of a major war in the Pacific, as well as the number of reservists likely needed to shore up sustainment operations at home.
