The foundation of any great military power extends beyond weaponry and manpower. Good old-fashioned logistics — how we move things — is just as essential to a prepared, competitive and modern military.

From Eisenhower’s Red Ball Express in World War II to today’s defense supply chains, the ability to move materials swiftly and reliably across vast stretches is integral to our national security. That is why the merger of Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern, which will create America’s first transcontinental railroad, would be a gamechanger, reshaping our domestic supply chain and revitalizing our national defense capabilities.

For the first time in U.S. history, a single freight railroad with a unified organizational structured enhancing situational awareness and speed of decision making, will connect the Pacific and Atlantic coasts with uninterrupted service, linking dozens of key military facilities, defense manufacturers and ports along the way. That means faster, more reliable logistics — and a more agile, responsive military force. This merger would directly and positively impact our military force readiness.

Further, the merger is an opportunity to reknit the physical infrastructure that holds together our defense industrial base, our strategic supply chains, and our ability to surge when crisis strikes.

Currently, America’s rail network is fragmented. The country has six major Class I freight railroads, operating in geographically segmented regions. That means railcars traveling from one coast to the other must switch carriers at mid-route interchanges, where the end of one company’s network meets the beginning of another. Interchanges can delay scheduled shipments by days and tie a knot in precise, sequential and on-time logistical requirements. In peace, that’s a costly inefficiency. In war, that’s fatal. 

For the Department of Defense, which relies heavily on rail for the transport of vehicles, fuel, ammunition and other equipment, inefficiencies in the system can put lives at risk. In any large-scale mobilization, military equipment must travel long distances from inland installations to coastal ports for deployment abroad. That movement cannot happen at the necessary speed or scale if the nation’s rail network is a patchwork of handoffs and bottlenecks.

Other countries have recognized the economic and security benefits of a unified rail network spanning the length of a nation and connecting its critical ports and hubs. Albeit not a model of efficiency, Russia’s state-owned Trans-Siberian Railway was completed over a 100 years ago (1916) and stretches from Moscow to Vladivostok in Russia’s far east, making it the world’s longest single track. The Canadian Pacific Railway similarly spans Canada and dips down into parts of the U.S. Mexico is also investing heavily in national rail projects to connect key ports and assets, as are Brazil, Peru and others. The U.S. is an economic powerhouse. It is time for the U.S. to reclaim its leadership position in this critical industry.

In an era of escalating competition among global powers, particularly China, the resilience of our domestic supply chains is a matter of national defense. The pandemic and recent shipping crises exposed how vulnerable America is to dependence on overseas supply chains and relies too heavily on just-in-time imports. A unified coast-to-coast rail network strengthens our ability to produce and transport strategic goods at home — from steel and semiconductors to critical minerals and energy.

The merger would also establish a rail network with the scale to effectively compete with trucking, which dominates domestic freight but relies on publicly funded highways that are aging and increasingly congested. Unlike trucking, rail is less vulnerable to labor shortages as well as conditions such as weather and road conditions. In a national emergency, rail can be prioritized, secured more easily, and provide essential goods and services to lean into a crisis and better create the conditions for a more effective transition from crisis to a new normal. 

With news of the merger out, Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern will now turn their attention to building their merger application for the Surface Transportation Board, the federal agency responsible for reviewing rail mergers. The companies will need to prove that their merger serves the public interest. 

To date, the companies have pledged to preserve unionized jobs, improve efficiency for shippers, and invest in new infrastructure. But their case rests on something even bigger: America’s ability to defend itself — both abroad and at home. It is intuitively obvious to the casual observer that this merger ensures and accelerates that objective. 

James “Spider” Marks, a retired U.S. Army major general, was the senior intelligence officer for the 2003 liberation of Iraq and the former commanding general of the U.S. Army Intelligence Center. He currently serves as the director of geo-political intelligence for Academy Securities, a New York-based veteran-owned bank.