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Date: Wed, 9 Nov 1994 11:54:38 -0500 (EST)
Department of the Navy
Washington
FORWARD
. . . FROM THE SEA
In 1992 the Navy-Marine Corps paper ... From the Sea defined
the strategic concept intended to carry the Naval Service--the
Navy and Marine Corps--beyond the Cold War and into the 21st
century. It signaled a change in focus and, therefore, in
priorities for the Naval Service away from operations on the sea
toward power projection and the employment of naval forces from
the sea to influence events in the littoral regions of the world-
-those areas adjacent to the oceans and seas that are within
direct control of and vulnerable to the striking power of sea-
based forces.
The purpose of U.S. naval forces remains to project the
power and influence of the nation across the seas to foreign
waters and shores in both peace and war. Forward ...From the Sea
updates and expands the strategic concepts articulated in our
1992 paper to address specifically the unique contributions of
naval expeditionary forces in peacetime operations, in responding
to crises, and in regional conflicts. Forward ...From the Sea
amplifies the scope of our strategic concept while confirming
the course and speed for the Naval Service as defined in the
original document.
John H. Dalton
Secretary of the Navy
Admiral J. M. Boorda, USN General Carl E. Mundy, Jr., USMC
Chief of Naval Operations Commandant, U.S. Marine Corps
INTRODUCTION
With the publication of ...From the Sea in September
1992, the Navy and Marine Corps announced a landmark shift in
operational focus and a reordering of coordinated priorities of
the Naval Service. This fundamental shift was a direct result of
the changing strategic landscape--away from having to deal with a
global maritime threat and toward projecting power and influence
across the seas in response to regional challenges.
In the two years since ...From the Sea became our strategic
concept, the Administration has provided expanded guidance on
the role of the military in national defense. A major review of
strategy and force requirements resulted in a shift in the
Department of Defense's focus to new dangers--chief among which
is aggression by regional powers--and the necessity for our
military forces to be able to rapidly project decisive military
power to protect vital U.S. interests and defend friends and
allies. In defining our national strategy for responding to
these new dangers, the review emphasized the importance of
maintaining forward-deployed naval forces and recognized the
impact of peacetime operational tempo on the size of Navy and
Marine Corps force structure. In addition to recognizing the
unique contributions of the Navy and Marine Corps in the areas of
power projection and forward presence, it restated the need for
the Navy to support the national strategic objectives through our
enduring contributions in strategic deterrence, sea control and
maritime supremacy, and strategic sealift.
Forward ...From the Sea addresses these naval contributions
to our national security. Most fundamentally, our naval forces
are designed to fight and win wars. Our most recent experiences,
however, underscore the premise that the most important role of
naval forces in situations short of war is to be engaged in
forward areas, with the objectives of preventing conflicts and
controlling crises.
Naval forces thus are the foundation of peacetime forward
presence operations and overseas response to crisis. They
contribute heavily during the transitions from crisis to conflict
and to ensuring compliance with terms of peace. At the same
time, the unique capabilities inherent in naval expeditionary
forces have never been in higher demand from U.S. theater
commanders--the regional Commanders-in-Chief--as evidenced by
operations in Somalia, Haiti, Cuba, and Bosnia, as well as our
continuing contribution to the enforcement of United Nations
sanctions against Iraq.
THE STRATEGIC IMPERATIVE
The vital economic, political, and military interests of the
United States are truly global in nature and scope. In many
respects these interests are located across broad oceans, and to
a great extent they intersect those of current and emergent
regional powers. It is in the world's littorals where the Naval
Service, operating from sea bases in international waters, can
influence events ashore in support of our interests.
Because we are a maritime nation, our security strategy is
necessarily a transoceanic one. Our vital interests--those
interests for which our the United States is willing to fight--
are at the endpoint of "highways of the seas" or lines of
strategic approach that stretch from the United States to the
farthest point on the globe. Not surprisingly, these strategic
lines and their endpoints coincide with the places to which we
routinely deploy naval expeditionary forces: the Atlantic,
Mediterranean, Pacific, Indian Ocean, Red Sea, Persian Gulf, and
Caribbean Sea. Reductions in fiscal resources, however, dictate
that we must refocus our more limited naval assets on the highest
priorities and the most immediate challenges, even within these
areas of historic and vital interest to the United States.
Naval forces are particularly well-suited to the entire
range of military operations in support of our national
strategies. They continue the historic role of naval forces
engaged in preventive diplomacy and otherwise supporting our
policies overseas. Moreover, forward-deployed naval forces--
manned, equipped, and trained for combat--play a significant role
in demonstrating both the intention and the capability to join
our NATO and other allies, as well as other friendly powers, in
defending shared interests. Finally, if deterrence fails during
a crisis and conflict erupts, naval forces provide the means for
immediate sea-based reaction. This could include forcible entry
and providing the protective cover essential to enabling the flow
of follow-on forces which will be deployed, supported, and
sustained from the continental United States.
In short, forward-deployed naval forces will provide the
critical operational linkages between peacetime operations and
the initial requirements of a developing crisis or major regional
contingency.
PEACETIME FORWARD PRESENCE OPERATIONS
Naval forces are an indispensable and exceptional instrument
of American foreign policy. From conducting routine port visits
to nations and regions that are of special interest, to
sustaining larger demonstrations of support to long-standing
regional security interests, such as with UNITAS exercises in
South America, U.S. naval forces underscore U.S. diplomatic
initiatives overseas. Indeed, the critical importance of a
credible overseas presence is emphasized in the President's 1994
National Security Strategy:
. . . presence demonstrates our commitment to allies
and friends, underwrites regional stability, gains U.S.
familiarity with overseas operating environments,
promotes combined training among the forces of friendly
countries, and provides timely initial response
capabilities.
In peacetime U.S. naval forces build "interoperability"--the
ability to operate in concert with friendly and allied forces--so
that in the future we can easily participate fully as part of a
formal multinational response or as part of "ad hoc" coalitions
forged to react to short-notice crisis situations. Participation
in both NATO Standing Naval Forces and in a variety of exercises
with the navies, air forces, and land forces of coalition
partners around the Pacific rim, Norwegian Sea, Arabian Gulf, and
Mediterranean basin provide solid foundations for sustaining
interoperability with our friends and allies.
Additionally, the outreach to the former Warsaw Pact
countries in the NATO Partnership for Peace program will further
build solidarity and interoperability. We have already made
solid progress in expanding and intensifying our cooperation with
the navies in Eastern Europe with exercises such as BALTOPS 94
and BREEZE 94, which included units from Bulgaria, Estonia,
Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, and Ukraine.
U.S. forward-deployed naval forces have also contributed to
humanitarian assistance and disaster-relief efforts--from the
Philippines to Bangladesh to Rwanda--with similar, very
positive, results.
Although naval presence includes a wide range of
forward-deployed Navy and Marine Corps units afloat and ashore in
friendly nations, our basic presence "building blocks" remain
Aircraft Carrier Battle Groups--with versatile, multipurpose,
naval tactical aviation wings--and Amphibious Ready Groups--with
special operations-capable Marine Expeditionary Units. These
highly flexible naval formations are valued by the theater
commanders precisely because they provide the necessary
capabilities forward: ready and positioned to respond to the
wide range of contingencies and available to participate in
allied exercises, which are the bedrock of interoperability.
We have also turned our attention to examining the naval
capabilities that could contribute to extending conventional
deterrence. In this regard, forward-deployed surface warships--
cruisers and destroyers--with theater ballistic missile defense
capabilities will play an increasingly important role in
discouraging the proliferation of ballistic missiles by extending
credible defenses to friendly and allied countries. By
maintaining the means to enhance their security and safety, we
may reduce the likelihood that some of these nations will develop
their own offensive capabilities. Our efforts will thereby slow
weapons proliferation and enhance regional stability.
In addition, even as we have shifted our emphasis to forward
presence and power projection from sea to land, the Navy
continues to provide a robust strategic nuclear deterrent by
maintaining strategic ballistic missile submarines at sea. As
long as it is U.S. policy to ensure an adequate and ready
strategic nuclear deterrent, our highly survivable strategic
ballistic missile submarines will remain critical to national
security.
CRISIS RESPONSE
U.S. naval forces are designed to fight and win wars, as are
all elements of our military arsenal. To successfully deter
aggressors, we must be capable of responding quickly and
successfully in support of U.S. theater commanders. Forces
deployed for routine exercises and activities undergirding
forward presence are also the forces most likely to be called
upon to respond rapidly to an emerging crisis. The potential for
escalation dictates that presence forces must be shaped for
missions they may encounter. This provides theater commanders
with credible crisis-response capabilities in the event normal
conditions or outcomes do not turn out as we expect.
Building on normally deployed forces, we can mass, if the
situation requires, multiple Aircraft Carrier Battle Groups into
Carrier Battle Forces, Amphibious Ready Groups with embarked
Marine Expeditionary Units, and as needed project our naval
expeditionary forces ashore using the afloat Maritime Prepositioning Force.
Such a massing of naval units can be complemented by the deployment of
Army and Air Force complements to provide a joint force capable
of the full range of combat operations that may be required.
A U.S. warship is sovereign U.S. territory, whether in a
port of a friendly country or transiting international straits
and the high seas. U.S. naval forces, operating from highly
mobile "sea bases" in forward areas, are therefore free of the
political encumbrances that may inhibit and otherwise limit the
scope of land-based operations in forward theaters. The latter
consideration is a unique characteristic and advantage of
forward-deployed naval forces. In many critical situations, U.S.
naval forces alone provide theater commanders with a variety of
flexible options--including precise measures to control
escalation--to respond quickly and appropriately to fast-breaking
developments at the operational and tactical levels.
Whether surging from adjacent theaters or from continental
U.S. deployment bases, naval forces are uniquely positioned,
configured, and trained to provide a variety of responses in the
event of an unexpected international crisis. Their operational
flexibility and responsiveness are a matter of record.
REGIONAL CONFLICT
Naval forces make a critical contribution in a major
regional contingency during the transition from crisis to
conflict. Forward naval forces deployed for presence and
reinforced in response to an emerging crisis can serve as the
transition force as land-based forces are brought forward into
theater.
Using a building-block approach, U.S. naval forces can be
"tailored" with specific capabilities. The resulting naval
expeditionary force--conceptually built around fleet operational
forces and a forward-deployed Marine Expeditionary Force--can
provide a highly flexible force for a wide range of missions,
including long-range strike operations and early forcible entry
to facilitate or enable the arrival of follow-on forces.
Focusing on the littoral area, Navy and Marine Corps forces
can seize and defend advanced bases--ports and airfields--to
enable the flow of land-based air and ground forces, while
providing the necessary command and control for all joint and
allied forces. The power-projection capabilities of specifically
tailored naval expeditionary forces can contribute to blunting an
initial attack and, ultimately, assuring victory. The keys to
our enabling mission are effective means in place to dominate and
exploit littoral battlespace during the earliest phases of
hostilities.
Moreover, the unique capabilities inherent in naval
tactical aviation operating from our sea bases or expeditionary
airfields, as well as the capability to contribute to sustained
land combat operations, provide theater commanders with
flexibility in the conduct of littoral operations. Throughout
the 20th century, Marine Air-Ground Task Forces, placed ashore
initially as an enabling force, have fought and contributed
decisively in every major ground conflict. Similarly, naval
tactical aviation has made pivotal contributions when the nation's air
power was needed in combat.
In the event of a future regional conflict, U.S. naval
forces will assume critical roles in the protection of vital
sealift along the strategic lines of approach to the theater of
conflict including the air- and sea-ports of debarkation. Our
success in a major regional contingency will depend upon the
delivery of heavy equipment and the resupply of major ground and
air elements engaged forward. Sealift is the key to force
sustainment for joint operations, and we are committed to a strong
national capability.
JOINT AND COMBINED OPERATIONS
No single military service embodies all of the capabilities
needed to respond to every situation and threat. Our national
strategy calls for the individual services to operate jointly to
ensure both that we can operate successfully in all warfare areas
and that we can apply our military power across the spectrum of
foreseeable situations - in peace, crisis, regional conflict, and
the subsequent restoration of peace.
The enhanced combat power produced by the integration of all
supporting arms, which we seek to attain through joint
operations, is inherent in naval expeditionary forces. For
example, the Aircraft Carrier Battle Group integrates and focuses
diverse technologies and combat capabilities to assure the
dominance of the air, surface, and sub-surface battle space
necessary for the prosecution of subsequent campaigns. Further,
Marine Expeditionary Forces, employing Marine Air-Ground Task
Force (MAGTF) combined-arms doctrine, are the most versatile
expeditionary force in existence. Established by law to be
"forces of combined arms, together with supporting air
components," MAGTFs are expeditionary, rapidly expandable air-
ground formations, capable of operating from sea bases, ashore,
or both, simultaneously. They are the model for the joint air-
ground task forces evolving as conflicts grow smaller and the
forces available grow fewer.
Naval expeditionary forces have long operated as integral
elements of joint forces acting with other joint or allied sea,
land, air, and space forces. Just as the complementary
capabilities of Navy and Marine Corps forces add to our overall
strength, combining the capabilities and resources of other
services and those of our allies will yield decisive military
power.
MAINTAINING OUR NEW DIRECTION
The new direction for the Naval Service remains focused on
our ability to project power from the sea in the critical
littoral regions of the world. We remain committed to
structuring our naval expeditionary forces so that they are
inherently shaped for joint operations, with the emphasis on
operations forward from the sea, tailored for national needs.
Recent Department of the Navy budget decisions, which resulted in
a real increase in spending on littoral warfare and the means for
power projection, are illustrative of the shift in priorities we
have undertaken since the publication of ... From the Sea. As we
continue to improve our readiness to project power in the
littorals, we need to proceed cautiously so as not to jeopardize
our readiness for the full spectrum of missions and functions for
which we are responsible.
In the two years since ... From the Sea was published, we
have expanded on and capitalized upon its traditional
expeditionary focus. "Expeditionary" implies a mind set, a
culture, and a commitment to forces that are designed to be deployed forward
and to respond swiftly. Our new direction provides the nation:
- Naval Expeditionary Forces
- Shaped for Joint Operations
- Tailored for National Needs
- Operating Forward ... From the Sea
CONCLUSION
... From the Sea was the initial step in demonstrating how
the Navy and Marine Corps responded to the challenges of a new
security environment. Our strategy and policies continue to
evolve as we learn from our recent experiences and prepare for
the new challenges and opportunities of this highly dynamic
world. Naval forces have five fundamental and enduring roles in
support of the National Security Strategy: projection of power
from sea to land, sea control and maritime supremacy, strategic
deterrence, strategic sealift, and forward naval presence. We
will continue to carry out these roles to protect vital U.S.
global interests, citizens, allies and friends, wherever they may
be at risk.
The Cold War may be over, but the need for American
leadership and commensurate military capability endures. Many of
our most vital interests remain overseas where the Navy and the
Marine Corps are prepared for new challenges--forward deployed,
ready for combat, and engaged to preserve the peace.
-USN-