A Bimodal Force for the National Maritime Strategy
Abstract
While still serving in my first ship, I read a twelve-page article in the Naval Institute Proceedings entitled "National Policy and the Transoceanic Navy." Written by Samuel P. Huntington, this durable and popular essay has stuck with me ever since. As a source of wisdom for confronting both international communism and the Soviet Union, "Transoceanic Navy" is not as incisive as public servant George Kennan's Long Telegram or as sweeping as theologian Reinhold Niebuhr's book The Ironies of American History.1 Nevertheless I believe Huntington's article, written in 1954, rivaled them as a guide for the Cold War. 1950: The Navy in the National Strategy of Forward Defense What were the strengths of Huntington's description of a "transoceanic navy" for the American nation? They were three. First, he did not speculate on a new direction for the American navy. On the contrary, he described with a clarity all might grasp the changes actually under way both in purpose and composition, and why the changes of strategy and supporting forces should be stable, enduring across changes of administration and military leadership.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2007
- Accession Number
- ADA520332
Entities
People
- Wayne P. Hughes Jr.
Organizations
- Naval War College