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TT T hen I am on watch on the bridge of a French
1/1/ naval ship, I am not first a sailor of the At-
V f lantic alliance or a sailor from Western Europe. I am a French naval officer with a rich inheritance, follower of a long tradition, and custodian of the freedom of 55 million French people, who are jealous of their independence and concerned about their future.
I am on watch where nobody inspects me. I am the keeper of an immense property spread throughout the world where the tricolor—the blue, white, and red French national ensign—floats in the wind.
When I am on watch on the four oceans, I bear the burden of the entire history of France—its traditions, dreams, misfortunes, wealth, and hopes.
From Tahiti to Mururoa in French Polynesia, I carry freight to the Pacific Nuclear Test Center in the charge of our permanent forces overseas. Here our experts develop weapons for our national deterrent.
Off the coast of French Guiana, 1 make sure the Ariane space launch site at Kourou is safe; off the coast of New Caledonia, I guarantee the government’s freedom of action. Circumnavigating the islands of the French Antilles, I fight against drug traders who ply the Caribbean; off Newfoundland, I make sure that peace is the rule between fishermen from St. Pierre and Miquelon and their Canadian counterparts. Near Antarctica in the southern Indian Ocean I carry supplies to the researchers of the Kerguelen base and support fishermen in the Southern Islands.
When I spend the summer off Beirut, it is to show the unfortunate Lebanese people France's support and compassion, but also to encourage them to behave more sensibly.
When I fly over the Sahel Desert in Africa, it is to respect France’s commitments to Chad.
When I cruise along the coast of Guinea, delivering clothes and medicines to black African countries, I show France's solidarity with those peoples.
When I sail around the world to train the cadets on board the Jeanne d’Arc, I convey the friendly salute of French young people.
When I leave Brest to ply the Irish Sea, I ensure that supertankers respect navigation lanes; when I monitor the Bay of Biscay, it is to make sure that France’s maritime approaches are safe for our nuclear-powered fleet ballistic-missile submarines (SSBNs).
When I leave Cherbourg for Rosyth (near Edinburgh) to train with allied sailors, it is to maintain my capability to fight at NATO’s side.
When I spend months underwater to monitor the Red fleet, I contribute to the defense of Europe.
When I spend a year in or close to the Persian Gulf, with our carrier battle group near the Strait of Hormuz, it is because the safety of France’s oil supply route is threatened.
When I conduct long deterrence patrols, I safeguard the freedom and integrity of the national territory.
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Yes, when I stand watch under the French flag, I extend my reach over the whole world to guarantee the safety and grandeur of a small country at the tip of Europe. This small European country with a mysterious vocation is often regarded with surprise and astonishment, if not irritation, by Americans because of its constant willingness to show its independence.
How can other people comprehend France’s contribution to the defense of the West? How can they understand the role of the French Navy, its behavior, preoccupations, and motivations?
Undoubtedly, an answer can be found in the original character of this country, smaller than Texas, which refused to be integrated into the NATO military command, sometimes has troublesome relations with its partners, and finds its hopes and prospects sometimes misinterpreted.
My country is said to be declining, unable to adapt to world competition. Indeed, if we compare the weight of the French influence two centuries ago with that of today, we might feel France has been left behind in the field of international power and prestige.
But is France really smaller, or is it that new superpowers have emerged?
The French Navy reflects the history of France: it has been large and powerful at some occasions (as when it fought on the American side in that country’s War of Independence) when the land threat to French territory was not terribly serious. It must be remembered that France’s major defense effort has always been directed toward protecting the nation’s soil; that is why most of France’s famous military commanders fought on land. But the nation’s future also has depended heavily on the land battle. Sebastien Le Prestre de Vauban and his fortifications, Napoleon Bonaparte and his maneuvering wit and strategic genius, and Ferdinand Foch and his tenacity and lucidity have marked our military history.
The crest line of the Vosges mountains that acts as France’s eastern boundary has always separated France from its historic enemies. The threat always has come from the east—the long plains of Germany, Poland, and Russia. French defense has always focused on this area.
France has had roughly the same boundaries for centuries, but has always been concerned with the precariousness of its strategic position. France has built fortifications against the eastern threat—lines of fortresses under the kings, and the Maginot line between the two world wars—to compensate for the lack of a deep battlefield.
France did not develop a far-reaching maritime policy, but stuck to its coastline and looked at the maritime environment not as a gate open on the world, but as a buffer between it and the unknown. Although full of glory, the French maritime tradition is discreet and could never find an ear in Paris; it is deeply rooted in coastal people who were among the first to ply the world’s oceans. But they were men of fortune and dreams rather than the vanguard of merchants or conquerors.
These factors explain France’s special character-— why, although its maritime borders are longer than its land borders, its military doctrine is mainly defensive and land oriented.
This is why the French Navy is the smallest service (66,000), even ranking last in budgetary figures (18% of the defense budget).
This also explains why France developed a purely national nuclear deterrent as a modem obstacle against invaders. Having its own means of deterring any threat from the east was, beyond any doubt, a way for France to meet its most secret dream of defending its soil, since France had already lost several million people to achieve this aim and has no hegemonic or imperialist longings.
That the French Navy and its SSBNs are entrusted
Wlth 80% of the nation’s few hundred nuclear warheads P one of these returns of history that demonstrates ranee’s lack of a strategic geographic position. Because the French Navy now bears a major portion of e burden of deterring the threat from the east, it plays a more significant part in France’s defense system.
^hen I am on watch on the bridge of a French naval ship, I follow the traditions of my grandfather Who fought at Verdun, and of my father who fought a§ainst Nazi invaders. But I also think of the uncertain utUre of Europe, a Europe that, because of its lack of strategic reach, can find no balance or stability.
Indeed, Europe represents France’s future, as it represents the future of all other nations that geography the vicissitudes of history have bound together.
°w can we ensure the safety of such a melting pot at faces an arbitrary line to the east and is disadvan- §ed to the south by ever-increasing population growth c°upled with serious economic underdevelopment? This an almost impossible task, and I still resent those ho at Casablanca or Yalta left Europe such a legacy.
0 wonder the 323 million inhabitants of Western Eu- r°Pe are attracted by diverging regional balances.
. Copies living close to the North Sea share old trad- 'ng customs with those peoples living close to the Bal- lc Sea. But they cannot ignore the Soviet giant that . °*ds the keys to their balance. Those people who live a the western part of Central Europe cannot forget all °ut their Eastern cousins, who are set apart from em by an absurd, artificial line that violates the les- ns learned from history and geography. And Mediterranean states maintain old links to one another and are reatened by the emergence of the Arab world and the Se of Islamic fundamentalism.
, France and Western Europe cannot totally oppose ese neighbors they have been living with for centu- es! they cannot afford to break with peoples whose y.es have always been present in London, Madrid, lenna, Paris, Rome, or Berlin. Most ideologies and uosophies now triggering modern conflicts were born °n European soil.
,. E this mosaic of peoples has shown a significant sta- uty in appearance, it is because of a common destiny at has been the source of continuous prosperity and
development for two centuries. It also results from the experience of two world wars that cost so many human lives.
But unstable systems are developing at the edges of Western Europe—systems that threaten the continent’s balance. How can we ignore the increasing discrepancies developing between economic and social systems on either side of the Iron Curtain? And what about the widening cultural and demographic gaps between systems on either side of the Mediterranean? Wealth and freedom, the most visible qualities of the Western world, also are powerful attractions to neighbors. In spite of these pressures and constraints, the political and military elements of Europe cannot be brought together.
The Atlantic alliance is a protection against these threats, but it cannot evolve toward a more efficient, responsible structure because no European unity can be built; this alliance remains limited by history and geography. Western Europe, compelled to remain for many decades a clashing point between the superpowers, a stake for its neighbors, and a buffer between conflicting doctrines, cannot do without the U. S. alliance; it unconsciously relies on the American soldiers, who came twice in this century to fight on the soil of Europe for the freedom of its people. In so doing, Europe renounces part of its sovereignty. But playing another game does not pay off strategically.
Thus, when I am on watch on the bridge of a French naval ship, I imagine a strong Europe, aware of its power, an independent Europe that knows how to resist interwoven pressures that cohabit on its soil. But I am also aware that time is needed for Europe to find room for stability. I know the French Navy, halfway between a coastal navy and a blue-water navy, shares in this process.
When I am on watch, wherever I am and whatever the mission, I defend France’s freedom.
Defending freedom is first taking out a life insurance policy for France by protecting it from direct threats. The strategic submarine force has been entrusted with this mission and maintains three SSBNs on permanent sea patrol.
Defending freedom is protecting our maritime approaches, which are also the approaches of Europe;
our Atlantic and Mediterranean fleets cope with these missions seaward, together with our attack submarines; our coastal mine countermeasures forces patrol in the vicinity of the coast and monitor the approaches to European ports.
Defending freedom is being able to counter aggression by implementing powerful and swift retaliatory actions; both our aircraft carriers and our four nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSNs) train every day to be able to achieve these goals. They deny the enemy use of the sea wherever France has interests; within the next ten years, they will be reinforced by the first of two nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and four additional SSNs.
Defending freedom is safeguarding the sovereignty of the French territories and economic zones spread over all continents and oceans; it is also supporting, monitoring, and protecting economic trade under the French flag. About 40 ships of all types are assigned to this mission throughout the year.
Defending freedom is providing assistance and, should they need it, military support to our friends, particularly in Africa. Our squadrons ply the Gulf of
Guinea every year as a proof of this commitment.
Of course, with roughly 150 warships, 200 aircraft, and 66,000 men, it is difficult to maintain two carrier battle groups, a strategic submarine force, an attack submarine force, maritime patrol aviation, and a mine countermeasures force; of course, it is hard to continue to rank first in the fields of technology and training.
But the range of responsibilities assigned to the French Navy causes it to establish and maintain all elements of a major navy. Recent events and crises in which France has been involved have caused the navy to be at sea permanently worldwide. The navy has already taken advantage of these opportunities to increase its cohesion, training, and performance.
When I sail under the French flag, I meet other seafarers—friends and enemies. Each of these encounters triggers friendship, understanding, or alertness. Each flag I encounter represents a country with its own logic, specific interests, and strategies that do not always match those of my country. This is why I cannot, despite alliances, follow the U. S. Navy in its “sea control’’ option that does not correspond to my deterrence and presence missions. We may clash in the Pacific, the Caribbean, or the Indian Ocean; this is because our responsibilities and interests are not the same. The Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic’s strategy in the Norwegian Sea or the Supreme Allied Commander Europe’s policy concerning the reinforcement of Europe can conflict directly with our strategic nuclear deterrence policy that is aimed at avoiding a front-line battle in Europe.
Similarly, although France shares the fate of the other European nations, I cannot comply with the technical developments of their navies, since our economic interests do not necessarily coincide, and often even conflict. I cannot always inform them of my deployments and security concerns because their laws and regulations as well as their public opinion do not accept the same commitments or responsibilities as my country.
When I sail under the French flag, I am often the first to witness contemporary crises. I know / can rely on the final solidarity of my European friends and U. S. allies, but I am often left alone facing responsibilities other European nations are not ready to endorse collectively.
When 1 am on watch at sea in any location where France has interests, I believe 1 defend the freedom of the Western world and / take part in the effort to maintain and bring about stability and peace among the peoples. I am convinced that my fellow sailors from other nations understand me.
Commander Dufourcq currently serves as the deputy head of the underwater communications department at French Naval Headquarters in Paris. He graduated from the French Naval Academy in 1969 and served 12 years as a submariner, during which time he commanded an Agosta-class attack submarine. He recently graduated from the French Naval War College and has published articles about strategy in various publications.