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The Indian Ocean theater contains
the world's largest democracy (India), the world's most populous Muslim state
(Indonesia), the greatest concentration of oil (on the Arabian Peninsula and in
the Persian Gulf), the first Muslim nuclear power (Pakistan), the most
progressive economies in Southeast Asia (Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand) and
the greatest concentration of terrorists in the
world.
No argument there, and fine as
far as it goes. But he goes on to launch some baseless
accusations:
While
cognizant of the horrors that brought them to Indonesia, U.S. Navy officers are
relieved to have a mission at last. Largely excluded from participation in Iraq
and Afghanistan because of the reactionary choices the service made, our Navy
has suffered from a perception of fading
relevance.
Yet,
our Navy remains as important to America's security as it ever was. The problem
is that the Navy itself can't see it. The service suffers from the destructive
nostalgia that afflicted the Army a decade ago, the desire to perfect a force to
fight the wars of the past.
There's
more there besides, equally unsubstantiated. Pah - I decline to leave this
unchallenged:
Last things first:
Nostalgia? You've got to be kidding me. Under the current CNO we've been
innovating so fast that action officers can't tell their fantails from Tuesday.
Carrier battle groups have become carrier strike groups, losing half their
escorts to flesh out expeditionary strike groups - amphibs and Marines. And the
entire training process has been upended and strewn across the deck to develop a
more surge-able force. Traditional? Not now.
He's suffering from the effects of a
little of the old Army/Navy interservice rivalry. When he says that the Navy was
left out of the campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan, it makes me wonder at his
sense of proportion - half the carrier fleet and all their escorts were surged
to theater in both instances: In Afghanistan, naval aviation provided the lion's
share of TACAIR fighter/bombers, while the USAF provided the long range bombers
from Barksdale, LA and Diego Garcia - there were no bed down privileges for them
in theater. Eventually airfields in Afghanistan were seized, and other
arrangements made in the region, but not until after the fight was fairly
finished. While USAF TACAIR provided much more robust support in the Arabian
Gulf during Operation Iraqi Freedom, naval aviation was still a tremendous part
of the fight, as were the deep battle shaping operations that our cruisers,
destroyers and submarines contributed with Tomahawk cruise missile strikes. Navy
Special Warfare (SEALS) were and are active in both areas of operation, as were
and are the US Marine Corps - the other naval service in the blue/green team.
CB's and Navy doctors and corpsmen continue to make contributions in both AORs
as well, as does the unheralded but invaluable Explosive Ordnance Disposal
forces, or EOD. When the history of the war in Iraq is finally told at a
distance, those guys will be among the real heros, trust
me.
If Mr. Peters is objecting to the
fact Sailors aren't helping to provide perimeter security at the Green Zone, he
has a point, albeit a weak one. That's not what Sailors do. Mostly, we do
deterence. When deterence fails we swiftly defeat the enemy. We also do
humanitarian assistance when called upon. And we usually get there first, with
the most capability, because guess what: There's no place in the world that's
ever more than a few days steaming away from a carrier strike group. At least a
third of the Navy is always deployed, always within reach, and it's been that
way for as long as anyone can remember - it's just that no one notices until
"something happens." And then when something does happen, whether it be kinetic
strikes against hostile regimes in landlocked countries, or humanitarian
assistance to those in need, it always comes as a welcome surprise that the Navy
is just over the horizon with just the right capability.
Huh. Wonder how that
happened?
It happened because part of
us are always at sea. The Navy helps provide security for all the sea lift which
brings real combat power to the land fight, and sustains it once there. We keep
the sea lanes of communication secure, while buttressing traditional allies in
both South Asia and the Pacific Rim - something the Army would have a hard time
doing in any case due to the tyranny of distance, and is far too overstretched
to accomplish in today's environment. And when push comes to shove, we shove
back. Hard.
Don't get me wrong, Mr
Peters is right in his larger concerns about the nexus of national interest in
Asia, and you'll never hear a word from me in disparagement of the ground forces
- they're doing the heroes' work right now.
It's just worth saying that your US
Navy has been patrolling the world's hard places for a long, long time now. Even
while other folks were comfortably ensconced in garrison. Your humble scribe did
three interbellum deployments to the bad place, and looked the wolf in the eye
each time on multiple missions in Indian Country. And this naval officer is by
no means feeling relieved that he finally has a mission at
last.
Been busy, Mr. Peters. Busy
long time.
Thanks for finally
noticing.
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