[DugFin]

>The US doctrine have always been fleet warfare with large formations of US ships sailing alone on the open sea or in some water they have complete dominance over

One of the problems with the US Navy over the last 70+ years has been a tendency act as if they're still fighting WW2. It shows up in a lot of places in interesting ways. Another example is the USMC's fixation with hot beach amphibious assault, a tactic which is completely outdated with the advent of modern air power, and which hasn't actually been utilized since the Incheon landing in 1950.

[bdunbar]

- In 1991 4th Brigade was kept afloat in the Gulf, forcing the Iraqi army to devote resources to protecting beaches in and around Kuwait, and away from the border where the actual assault took place. Then they snuck the brigade ashore and added them to the striking power across the border.

Absent the ability to assault across a beach, those Iraqi divisions would have been on the border.