A fleet problem becomes a Pacific reinforcement

The scenario places a major US fleet problem in the Caribbean just before the crisis, bringing the Atlantic and Pacific fleets together near the Panama Canal. Holding the exercise in a region long frequented by the Royal Navy also supports Washington's claim to primacy in the Americas. The exercise leaves a large force concentrated, recently trained, and able to reach the Pacific without first assembling from distant stations. Roosevelt could move that force to Pearl Harbor as a forward presence while the United States remains short of war. The absence of an Atlantic conflict also frees Washington from the dispersal pressures that shaped the real war.