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The Navy and Marine Corps took a critical first step in publishing . . c°m the Sea.” Two years ago, it . flered a bold new direction, provides the naval service with the open- lng chapter of what is clearly the next major innovation in naval strategy.
We embrace the concept of “. . . r°m the Sea” and applaud the direchon that it takes the naval service.
We must recognize the continued need for a formal strategy to support me concept—a strategy that addresses me changes since the end of the Cold War and reflects the technological ‘•bvances taking place today. We must be innovative in crafting a strategy that provides for the "Navy after next.”
In early June, I directed the Chief of Naval Operations and the Commandant of the Marine Corps, in consonance with the Undersecretary of Navy, to begin work on the frame
work for just such a new maritime strategy. This framework will provide the strategic bridge between our warfighting doctrine and the objectives of our peacetime operations.
It will examine the relationship between forward presence and crisis prevention and detail the transition of naval forces across a range of conflict from peacetime presence to crisis response. I anticipate the completion of this revised maritime strategy by early next year.
. . From the Sea” is our foundation. I see it as a starting point for what lies beyond. Navy and Marine Corps leaders need to work out the rest of the story.
We always have been the first to fight and the last to leave. We are the forward presence of our nation. Whenever there is a crisis in the world, the first questions asked by our President are "Where are the carrier battle groups and how soon can
they be there?” Fighting forward is what we are trained to do. We can respond rapidly to crises anywhere in the world with a sustainable naval force.
These thoughts must be at the core of our strategic thinking. An innovative attitude, brought to the natural expansion of “. . . From the Sea,” will produce our naval strategy for the Navy after next.
It is such an innovative attitude that I seek to foster in the naval service. The past three years have been challenging, soul-searching years for the Navy. We have been made stronger by them, but it is time to move on. I want to keep the naval service moving toward an environment that both recognizes and welcomes quality changes. I always have been convinced that the naval service is the service of innovation.
Mr. Dalton is the 70th Secretary of the Navy.