From the original document stored at: http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/policy/fromsea/ftsuoap.txt
----------------------------------------------------------------
The Navy Public Affairs Library (NAVPALIB)
A service of the Navy Office of Information, Washington DC
Send feedback/questions to navpalib@opnav-emh.navy.mil
----------------------------------------------------------------
Department of the Navy Policy Paper
"...From the Sea" Update
THE OPNAV ASSESSMENT PROCESS
May 1993
During the Cold War era, naval forces were trained, organized
and equipped to counter Soviet hegemony throughout the world.
Extensive modernization of the fleet undertaken in the 1980s
provided the nation with a highly capable naval force to
accomplish this task. In the 1990s, the challenge is to reshape
this force for regional contingencies. As described in the new
strategic document, "...From the Sea," the naval service is now
focusing on joint operations in the littoral areas of the world.
In light of this new direction, The Chief of Naval Operations
(CNO) initiated an assessment process to examine Department of the
Navy (DON) programs to ensure they support the new strategy. This
new assessment process began in October, 1992, coincident with the
reorganization of the Navy staff. The assessment process ensures
that the Navy and Marine Corps will retain the flexibility and
unique combat capabilities they bring to the nation's armed forces
-- sea-based combat forces that can be seamlessly integrated into
joint and combined military operations.
JOINT MISSION AREAS AND SUPPORT AREAS
In addition to the traditional naval capabilities of forward
presence operations, crisis response, strategic deterrence, and
sealift, "... From the Sea" outlines four key operational
capabilities required to successfully execute the new direction:
Command, Control, and Surveillance; Battlespace Dominance; Power
Projection; and Force Sustainment. To programmatically review
these capabilities the new assessment process employs six Joint
Mission Areas (JMAs) and two Support Areas (SAs). The JMAs and
SAs provide the link between required operational capabilities,
spelled out in the new strategy, and the DON program and budget.
Resource requirements (systems, technology, and
manpower/infrastructure) are scrutinized and evaluated for their
specific contributions to the assessment areas. A primary
objective of the assessment process is to develop a thorough
understanding of how naval forces contribute to the nation's joint
force. JMAs and SAs broaden the perspective of the assessment
process by examining the DON program in the context of all the
services' roles and functions.
The JMAs and SAs are an assessment tool, not a foundation for
warfare doctrine. Naval forces will continue to conduct
fundamental naval warfare tasks such as strike warfare, air
warfare, surface warfare, and submarine warfare. However, they
will now focus on applying these warfare tasks to the more complex
littoral environment.
Figure (1) shows the relationship between the key operational
capabilities, naval warfare tasks, and the JMAs and SAs. The JMA
and SA definitions are being refined as the process yields a
better understanding of their relationships and programmatic
underpinnings. These are the JMA and SA definitions used in the
assessment process:
JOINT MISSION AREAS (JMAs)
JOINT STRIKE: A joint/allied action by appropriate units
which is intended to inflict damage on or destroy by use of force,
an objective at sea or ashore.
JOINT LITTORAL WARFARE: The use of joint/allied forces,
shaped for forward operation in the sea/air/land/space
environment, to influence, deter, contain or defeat a regional
littoral threat through the projection of maritime power.
JOINT SURVEILLANCE: The systematic observation and
exploitation of the multi-dimensional theater battlespace by all
available sensors.
JOINT SPACE AND ELECTRONIC WARFARE/INTELLIGENCE: The use of
joint/allied forces for the destruction or neutralization of enemy
SEW targets. It is also the enhancement of friendly force battle
management through the integrated employment and exploitation of
the electromagnetic spectra and the medium of space.
STRATEGIC DETERRENCE: A state of mind brought about by the
existence of a perceived credible threat of unacceptable counter-
action. It is the use of a clear, evident and precisely tailored
capability to hold a potential opponent's assets at risk such that
they will assess the cost of escalation to be unacceptable and
conclude that their most favorable option is to remain at or
return to peace. Strategic deterrence is applied to the entire
spectrum of violence, to include both nuclear and conventional
arms.
STRATEGIC SEALIFT/PROTECTION: The employment of joint/allied
forces to control ocean areas, assure access to littoral regions
and deploy and sustain forces over the operational continuum.
This area also evaluates the program to provide funding to obtain
adequate strategic sealift.
SUPPORT AREAS (SAs)
READINESS, SUPPORT, AND INFRASTRUCTURE: Provide, man,
operate and maintain fleet assets and the supporting facilities.
MANPOWER, PERSONNEL, AND SHORE TRAINING: Provide sufficient
military (active and reserve) and civilian personnel to maintain
fleet readiness and support. Provide facilities, equipment,
services, and personnel required to train these personnel to
maintain both fleet and shore establishment readiness.
THE ASSESSMENT PROCESS AND THE OPNAV REORGANIZATION
Prior to the reorganization of the staff of the Chief of
Naval Operations (OPNAV), resource sponsors focused mainly on
their role as platform and warfare community advocates. As an
example, OP-05, the progenitor of N88, represented the interests
of naval aviation. After the reorganization, the Deputy Chief of
Naval Operations for Resources, Warfare Requirements, and
Assessments (N8) established the assessment process to encompass
expertise from all Navy platforms and warfare disciplines. It is
designed to ensure the review of naval capabilities in a joint
context. As shown in figure (2), the process is founded on the
elimination of barriers -- between individual naval warfare
communities, and between the services.
Reflecting the new emphasis on joint operations in the
littoral, the OPNAV organization now mirrors the structure and
functions of the Joint Staff. A new division has also been formed
within OPNAV. N85, the Expeditionary Warfare Division, was
established to meet requirements set forth in "... From the Sea."
It is led by a Marine Corps General Officer and ensures that the
DON program addresses the unique aspects of naval expeditionary
operations in the world's littoral.
The assessment process assigns new roles to many offices
within OPNAV and requires them to adopt a broader perspective.
Prior to the reorganization, the process was centralized in a few
OPNAV offices. The new process established assessment teams in
each of the JMAs and SAs listed above. Each JMA and SA develops a
"vision" that briefly describes what that area provides to
national capabilities and how operations within the JMA or SA will
be conducted. "Capability Characterizations" are developed which
allow experience-based, operational judgment to determine the
value of programs, and their contribution to operations described
in the "vision." Other services' efforts are examined for their
complementary contributions to each JMA and SA. JMA and SA
recommendations include: tradeoffs to maximize capabilities,
potential efficiencies and areas where redundant capability may
exist, and emerging requirements that may require additional
resources or application of science and technology efforts.
These assessment teams are chaired by a Navy Flag or Marine
General Officer and consist of a "horizontal cut" of senior
officers from across OPNAV. At the working level, JMA and SA Core
Working Groups (CWGs) include members from across the OPNAV
organization, to provide representative warfare and/or
programmatic expertise. Also included in the assessments are
representatives from Headquarters, Marine Corps (HQMC), and the
Fleet Commanders-in-Chief (FLTCINCs).
The teams employ seminars and wargames to examine and discuss
warfare requirements, emerging issues, and programmatic
alternatives. The teams seek the expert opinions of organizations
such as the Defense Science Board and Naval Research Advisory
Committee. Additionally, the process draws on the analytical
capabilities of the naval warfare centers, Center for Naval
Analyses, university research laboratories, and, to a lesser
extent, contractors.
The process emphasizes assessment of the full cost of warfare
capabilities. About one third of DON money is spent on programs
to develop and acquire new capabilities, or modernize existing
capabilities. JMA assessments determine those systems the Navy
needs to be effective, and those systems which may represent
redundant capability. The JMAs and SAs are also charged with
examining the costs of operating and supporting capabilities
within their area.
The Assessment Division, N81, oversees the assessment process
for N8 and provides analytical resources to support the efforts of
the JMA and SA assessment teams. The Assessment Division is also
charged with integrating the results of the separate assessments
into a single investment strategy, the Investment Balance Review
(IBR).
This assessment process maintains a joint perspective and
specifically evaluates the complementary contributions of other
services and defense agencies. Considerable effort is invested in
ensuring the assessments result in consensus.
OPNAV ASSESSMENT: OBJECTIVES AND PROCESS
The continuous refinement of DON's program requires the
meticulous balancing of a wide variety of resource requirements.
As shown in figure (3), the assessment process is the principal
OPNAV program planning tool. Assessments provide a continuous
review of Navy capabilities and resource requirements in specific
joint mission and support areas. The process is iterative, and
continuously refined to ensure it addresses emerging operational
requirements, evolving naval strategies, and fiscal reality.
The objective of the assessment process is an integrated
investment strategy. This strategy is continuously refined in
step with DON's implementation of the Department of Defense
Planning, Programming, and Budgeting System (PPBS). The CNO's
Executive Steering Committee (ESC) and the Resource and
Requirements Review Board (R3B) are the principal decision forums
in this streamlined program decision process.
The R3B is the focal point of the assessment process.
Advising the Chief of Naval Operations, the Commandant of the
Marine Corps, and the Secretary of the Navy, the R3B makes
programmatic decisions to guide development of the Navy program.
The R3B is a senior executive board chaired by N8.
In the assessment process, the six JMAs and two SAs brief the
R3B. The assessment results are combined into one complete Navy
investment strategy, the Investment Balance Review. The R3B then
sets direction, provides guidance, and approves or disapproves the
recommendations arising out of the assessment process. The CNO
ESC, which includes the Navy's highest uniformed leadership,
oversees the R3B and provides long range guidance.
In such a way, the assessment process ensures the Navy
program addresses warfighting requirements, is properly funded,
and is balanced.
CONCLUSION
Assessments are conducted in the context of the vision
articulated in "... From the Sea." The assessment process and the
R3B are OPNAV's primary program/budget planning initiatives. They
capitalize on the elimination of platform parochialism
accomplished by the reorganization. Expertise aligned
horizontally from across OPNAV, HQMC, and the Fleet, participate
in Core Working Groups to assess the Navy's program in each of six
Joint Mission Areas and two Support Areas. Flag Officer
leadership in the form of Joint Mission Area Teams and Support
Areas Teams review and guide the assessment process.
The assessment process and the R3B are playing a decisive
role as the Department of the Navy works efficiently to provide
the nation with "naval expeditionary forces, shaped for joint
operations, operating forward from the sea, and tailored for
national needs."
-USN-