The new defense strategy has been the subject of seemingly endless discussion and debate since President Barack Obama announced it in early January. The impact on the services will be felt for years at least, and perhaps a decade or more to come. This month we asked our own longtime “World Naval Developments” columnist Norman Friedman for his analysis of what it all means. Turns out much of it is old wine in new bottles, but some of its components will have a dramatic effect on how the Sea Services operate in the future. Dr. Friedman casts an eye not only on the familiar concerns over China and Iran but also on the thorny problems of personnel cuts and procurement reform, issues being driven by their high costs in the budget.
But lest we fall prey to having tunnel vision, we should keep in mind that ours isn’t the only military, let alone navy, that faces tough choices because of defense belt-tightening. As part of our annual international navies coverage, this year we asked the commanders of naval forces—large and small—from around the world the following question: “In an era of austere defense budgets and rapidly increasing technologies, what are your strategic objectives for your naval force over the next 5 years? 10 Years? 20 Years?” Virtually all of the respondents agreed that their navies face leaner budgets in a period conversely marked by increased growth in cyber and weapon technologies and growing peril in the maritime environment. Few expect to see major capital acquisitions anytime soon; most say they’ll seek innovative ways to do more with less; and many see greater reliance on multinational training and operations as a key component to achieving that end.
While China’s emergent naval strength has drawn plenty of attention, it’s also worth noting the significant upswing in Russian warship construction, says retired U.S. Navy Captain Thomas R. Fedyszyn. But, as he observes, while Russia’s shipyards may be shifting into higher gear, the naval exigencies of Russia today are markedly different from those that drove the Soviet Union’s sea strategy.
Of course, our international coverage wouldn’t be complete without Eric Wertheim’s always-anticipated annual roundup of the latest developments in the world’s navies. In magazine-article terms, such an exhaustive and thorough write-up is a time-intensive and epic undertaking, but Eric, the editor of the Naval Institute Press’s Combat Fleets of the World, brings the ideal combination of perspicacity and love of subject matter to the work.
As combat winds down in Afghanistan, much of the Defense Department’s attention is understandably focused on what comes next. But we can’t afford to forget where we’ve been. Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom took a heavy toll on the armed forces, and, for too many of our troops, the effects will linger. Captain Lori Laraway and her three coauthors, all current or former Navy medical personnel, present their findings on the consequences of back-to-back combat tours conducted with insufficient numbers of personnel. Concluding that recruitment is not the problem, they urge military leaders to better address the issues through training to recognize and deal with stress symptoms.
Command and control (C2) is one of the most important elements of any military operation. Good C2 can lead to success; bad C2 can result in failure and possibly lives lost. Shortly after Admiral Vern Clark became CNO in 2000, he began trying to improve Navy-wide alignment. But his efforts were stalled in 2003, resulting in a hybrid chain of command and a mismatch between authority and responsibility. Admiral John C. Harvey and coauthors tell the story of how this situation was analyzed and eventually untangled—while pointing to the work that remains.
We round out this issue with a commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War Battle of Hampton Roads. What’s different about this article is that it already has been published in Proceedings—as part of the U.S. Naval Institute’s first volume of Papers and Proceedings. Written by Commodore Foxhall Parker, a founding member of the Institute, the story takes us aboard the new Union ironclad Monitor, the so-called “cheesebox on a raft,” and details her monumental encounter with the CSS Virginia (ex-USS Merrimack) in a clash that changed the face of naval warfare. We thought this a perfect way to mark two significant events of interest to our readers, one for the Navy, and one for the Naval Institute.