I would like to lead off with a broad examination of the responsibilities facing the Navy, in order to provide a baseline from which we might judge the adequacy of our naval forces to meet our national needs—and from which we might come to grips with the questions nagging the analysts these days, such as, “Why do we need a Navy?” and “What kind of Navy should it be, anyway?”
An excellent starting point is a discussion of the U. S. requirement for “maritime superiority.” I wish to emphasize this point of maritime superiority because it is a concept that has been given insufficient recognition in recent years, yet it is one which must form the basis for the planning of all our naval forces. It provides a clear and unambiguous yardstick against which to measure the adequacy of our naval forces—present and prospective. Its opposite is “maritime parity,” or worse, “inferiority”—both of which are anathema to me, and which are wholly inconsistent with this country’s most essential national interests.
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