The Case for Increased Naval Presence In Asia.
Abstract
With the end of the Cold War, the United States' naval services, the Navy and Marine Corps, turned away from blue ocean operations and reoriented their energies and doctrine to expeditionary warfare--using naval forces to decisively impact events on shore, especially in the littorals. All recent service documents, most notably the Navy's white paper "Forward.. From the Sea," espouse this new commitment to the littoral mission. Yet deployment patterns by Navy Carrier Battle Groups (CVBG's) and Marine Amphibious Ready Groups (ARG's) remain rooted in the past and centered on a European--that is a Mediterranean-- focus. If the U.S. naval service is to contribute most effectively to future national security, it must shift its attention to the most important region in America's future--Asia. While the huge economic growth of the Asia-Pacific region make it a critical area economically for the U.S. in the 21st Century, the equally large potential for instability in that region makes it imperative that the U.S. military is optimally positioned to help shape the security environment in the Asia of the 21st Century. As a nation we can ill afford to neglect our national security interests in Asia by denying it the constant naval presence that will undoubtedly prove critical in helping to shape the future stability of this vital area of the world. Although the U.S. military will fight jointly and often as part of a coalition, neither the Army, nor the Air Force, nor our allies can provide the continuity of forward presence, nor act with the impunity and on-station duration inherent in forward-deployed naval forces operating from highly mobile "sea bases."
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 06, 1998
- Accession Number
- ADA344878
Entities
People
- Christopher A. Cook
Organizations
- United States Army War College