War on the Rocks – Put simply, the U.S. Navy does not have enough personnel to man the ships it has, much less the ones it wants to build, and is now missing its recruiting goals. And this does not even consider the need to replace trained and experienced sailors who would be lost in the event of war with China.

Yet despite this challenge, there is a proven solution readily at hand. In pursuit of its constitutional duty to “provide and maintain a Navy” and in support of the Tri-Service Naval Strategy, Congress should create a Maritime National Guard as a way to strengthen the Navy’s force structure, improve recruiting and retention, and reconnect the American populace to the sea through a new generation of citizen sailors.