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Sea Services Leaders Discuss U.S. Security and Power Projection

By Matt Hilburn, Associate Editor

Leaders from the sea services and the Maritime Administration tackled the topic of 'Sea Power and America's Security' in the opening symposium of the Navy League's 2008 Sea-Air-Space exposition in Washington March 18.

Chief of naval operations (CNO), Adm. Gary Roughead, kicked off the panel discussion by highlighting the importance of the Cooperative Strategy for the 21st Century Seapower, increasing activities with partner nations and a redoubling of efforts on the Navy's core competencies.

Roughead said the Navy must never lose sight of its ability to project power globally, something he said the service has done in the past, present and future. To that end, he said that every time he sees the new Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), he "comes away more committed." He noted that the first LCS would "go to sea" next month.

Key to the Navy's ability to project power, he said, was better Maritime Domain Awareness and a "balanced" fleet. He said he was mostly concerned with the pipeline of combatant ships.

The commandant of the Coast Guard, Adm. Thad Allen, echoed many of Roughead's points and highlighted the increased partnership between the Navy and Coast Guard.

"I meet regularly with the CNO at talks aimed at looking at where we're going," he said. "It is a strong partnership."

Allen talked also about how the Coast Guard, too, was working increasingly with partner nations, citing the Northern Pacific and North Atlantic Coast Guard Forums that will enable coast guards in strategically positioned countries in each region to work together in solving transnational issues such as illegal fishing.

Allen said the Coast Guard was also interested in potential changes brought about by the shrinking polar ice cap and what that might mean for shipping patterns. He said the service was testing some equipment to improve maritime domain awareness in the arctic.

Sean Connaughton, head of the Maritime Administration (MARAD), talked about the increasing importance of international trade, both in terms of its effect on the economy and national security.

Connaughton said MARAD is working to analyze and overcome choke points at ports by looking not only at shipping, but also taking into account the rail and road connections in and out of ports.

"Sixteen percent of our GDP is linked to international trade, and that's growing," he said.

Connaughton also said that the weak dollar had a positive impact on American shipyards, with some foreign operators now looking to American firms to assist with ship repair. He said U.S. shipyards had seen the "most robust development in 20-25 years."

Capping the discussion was the assistant commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. Robert Magnus, who highlighted the Corps' activities worldwide in Iraq, Afghanistan, Africa, Latin America, Asia and on Marine Expeditionary Units on the world's oceans.

He said sea basing was a "national imperative."

To that end, Magnus said, "We need to build ships ... we need credible, modern strike forces." He added that in addition to ships, aircraft was also a pressing need, piggypacking on Roughead's earlier comments that the Navy and Marine Corps would see a drop off in air capability starting in 2016.

Commenting on the Corps' plan to increase its end strength to 202,000, Magnus said that the service would be well ahead on next year's recruiting goals this year.