Nate LaMar: Young is working to restore America’s military might

Having served in Germany, Jordan, the Pentagon and elsewhere, I saw firsthand what American strength looks like. I see it again today in the eyes of the young men and women I recruit for the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

But I know what American weakness looks like, as well. We experienced it during President Joe Biden’s administration. His spineless leadership marked America’s retreat on the global stage and allowed our adversaries to rush into the breach. The consequences cannot be understated: Biden’s failure resulted in chaos around the world, military recruitment numbers plummeting and a growing disrespect for our brave service members. It’s going to take years to fix what Biden broke.

Fortunately, Indiana’s senior U.S. senator, Todd Young, is already cleaning up the mess and restoring America’s military might. As a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, Young has always lived by the “Semper Fi” motto, faithfully fighting for our men and women in uniform through thoughtful legislation that improves our military readiness.

Today, the senator leads a bipartisan effort to rebuild America’s shipbuilding sector that was neglected for too long. For decades, we allowed our chief adversary, China, to outpace us in shipbuilding, putting both economic security and our national security at risk.

More than 80% of world trade relies on cargo ships, and maritime vessels make up 40% of the international trade value in the United States. These ships are essential to America’s economic success and the world’s economic stability. Yet China has a fleet of 5,500 commercial ships, while America has only 80 commercial-grade vessels. To make matters worse, in the early 1980s, the U.S. had 300 shipyards. Today, we have a mere 20. This staggering imbalance is unacceptable.

Imagine if there’s another global pandemic or, God forbid, another global conflict. America will be ill-prepared to support its citizens and defend its borders. Young and his colleagues recognized this shortcoming and made plans to secure additional funding for our maritime industries and advocate for federal programs to support commercial and military shipbuilding.

Under Young’s leadership, the United States is making strides to rebuild our fleet. I am optimistic about our future as we regain strength on the global stage.

During my years of service, I witnessed that, when America led, the world followed. Today, America is working to restore its presence on the world stage. Ensuring our Navy and other military branches have adequate resources to defend our country is a smart and strategic starting point.

I commend Young and his colleagues for their leadership on this critical initiative.•

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LaMar, an international director and Army officer veteran, also served as Henry County Council president from 2009-2019.