A new U.S. defense strategy unveiled in January calls for a resized, refocused military. Proceedings asked the leaders of the world’s sea services: In an era of austere defense budgets and rapidly increasing technologies, what are the strategic objectives for your naval force over the next 5 years? 10 years? 20 years?
Admiral Mariano Francisco Saynez Mendoza
The current situation in Mexico—the consequence of the emergence of criminal groups that threaten individual and state security—demands a decisive response by the government, a response in which the Mexican Navy is an essential component to re-establishing security. That will be the case for at least the next six years, a period needed to provide the necessary professionalization of the police forces.
In that sense, the navy’s strategic objectives are focused on continuing with the optimization of the operations performed by the three naval forces according to domain: land, surface, or air. In the case of our marines, the efforts are aimed at training and equipping the troops for effective performance in urban and high-impact operations, especially in the fight against organized crime, with special emphasis on human rights.
As for the surface units, the objective there is increasing ships’ operational capabilities to keep the necessary presence in our national seas to assure law enforcement and prevent the maritime domain from being used for illegal activities. Also, naval construction will be encouraged to contribute to that effort.
An important strategic objective is to guarantee the security of any individual carrying out legitimate maritime activities in Mexican waters, and thus fulfill the international agreements Mexico has signed. To do so, the navy will have to complete the implementation of its search-and-rescue system with the establishment of stations for that task that are fully integrated with personnel specializing in such operations, and provide them with adequate state-of-the-art equipment to help minimize the risk of loss of life at sea.
For naval aviation, the objectives are not that different. The efforts there are aimed at continuing with the necessary equipping to optimize troop-transportation operations for contributing in the fight against organized crime, as well as in maritime surveillance operations and assistance activities for civilian population zones in cases of disaster.
Thus, the strategic objectives of the Mexican Navy take into account a continued battle against organized crime in order to protect the Mexican people’s way of life, heritage, and integrity, in addition to promoting the development of the country.
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