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

In May, the commander of Edwards Air Force Base, 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 press release. 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 press release, Wickert referenced the 1941 attack on Naval Station Pearl Harbor, 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, the press release states. 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,” according to the release.

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

Wickert 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.

US prepares for long war with China that might hit its bases, homeland: Peter Apps

LONDON, May 16 (Reuters) - Earlier this month, U.S. Air Force Brigadier General Doug Wickert summoned nearby civic leaders to Edwards Air Force Base in California to warn them that if China attacks Taiwan in the coming years, they should be prepared for their immediate region to suffer potentially massive disruption from the very start.

In a remarkable briefing shared by the base on social media and promoted in a press release, Wickert - one of America's most experienced test pilots now commanding the 412th Test Wing - outlined China's rapid military growth and preparations to fight a major war.

Cutting-edge U.S. aircraft manufactured in California’s nearby “Aerospace Valley”, particularly the B-21 “Raider” now replacing the 1990s B-2 stealth bomber, were key to keeping Beijing deterred, he said. However, if deterrence failed that meant China’s would likely strike the U.S. including nearby Northrop Grumman factories where those planes were built.

"If this war happens, it's going to happen here," Wickert told them, suggesting attacks could include a cyber offensive that included long-term disruption to power supplies and other national infrastructure. "It's going to come to us. That is why we are having this conversation... The more ready we are, the more likely to change Chairman Xi’s calculus."

China Is Preparing a “Pearl Harbor” Attack on America, US General Warns

But the main thrust of Beijing’s attack is likely to come far above the Earth, in outer space—where America’s satellites are vulnerable to innovative new Chinese weapons.

United States Air Force Brigadier General Doug Wickert, the commander of the Air Force’s 412th Test Wing, warned an audience of airmen that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is preparing to conduct a Pearl Harbor-style attack on the United States as part of China’s larger effort to conquer Taiwan. Gen. Wickert’s nearly 40-minute talk is available for viewing on YouTube, and it already has well over 400,000 views.

Navigator wrote: Fri Jun 06, 2025 12:41 am Instead of "CCP members" I should have said "anyone with any connection to the CCP", which is basically any student from mainland China. They all need to go. These people are not our friends. They are the enemy. They are doing everything possible to weaken us from within.

When war does come, it won't just include a loss of the electrical grid. They are planning to attack any kind of infrastructure and industry. The fungus plot was just showing that they will go after agriculture as well.

So preparation is not just for loss of electricity, it will be for a temporary disruption of just about everything that we take for granted that is conveyed to us by any kind of distribution. Gasoline, food, water, heating fuels, medicine. They will go about disrupting all of this.

Instead of "CCP members" I should have said "anyone with any connection to the CCP", which is basically any student from mainland China. They all need to go. These people are not our friends. They are the enemy. They are doing everything possible to weaken us from within