NAVAL WAR COLLEGE NEWPORT PAPERS 30 NAVAL WAR COLLEGE U.S. Naval Strategy in the 1970s Selected Documents NEWPORT PAPERS N ES AV T A A L T W S A D R E C T I O L N L U E E G H E T I VIRIBU OR A S CT MARI VI 30 John B. Hattendorf, D.Phil., Editor Cover The amphibious assault ship USS Tarawa (LHA 1) operating an SH-60F Seahawk helicopter off San Diego, California, on 29 November 2006. Photograph by Commander Richard D. Keltner, USN, reproduced by permission. U.S. Naval Strategy in the 1970s Selected Documents Edited with an Introduction by John B. Hattendorf, D.Phil. Ernest J. King Professor of Maritime History Naval War College NAVAL WAR COLLEGE PRESS Newport, Rhode Island Naval War College The Newport Papers are extended research projects that the Newport, Rhode Island Director, the Dean of Naval Warfare Studies, and the Center for Naval Warfare Studies President of the Naval War College consider of particular Newport Paper Thirty interest to policy makers, scholars, and analysts. September 2007 The views expressed in the Newport Papers are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the President, Naval War College Naval War College or the Department of the Navy. Rear Adm. Jacob L. Shuford, USN Correspondence concerning the Newport Papers may be Provost/Dean of Academics addressed to the Director of the Naval War College Press. James F. Giblin, Jr. To request additional copies, back copies, or subscriptions Dean of Naval Warfare Studies to the series, please either write the President (Code 32S), Robert C. Rubel Naval War College, 686 Cushing Road, Newport, RI 02841-1207, or contact the Press staff at the telephone, fax, Naval War College Press or e-mail addresses given. Director: Dr. Carnes Lord Reproduction and printing are subject to the Copyright Act Managing Editor: Pelham G. Boyer of 1976 and applicable treaties of the United States. This document may be freely reproduced for academic or other Telephone: 401.841.2236 noncommercial use; however, it is requested that Fax: 401.841.1071 reproductions credit the author and Newport Papers series DSN exchange: 948 and that the Press editorial office be informed. To obtain E-mail: [email protected] permission to reproduce this publication for commercial Web: www.nwc.navy.mil/press purposes, contact the Press editorial office. Printed in the United States of America ISSN 1544-6824 ISBN 978-1-884733-46-8 Contents Foreword, by Carnes Lord v Acknowledgments vii Introduction, by John B. Hattendorf ix DOCUMENT ONE Project SIXTY 1 DOCUMENT TWO Missions of the U.S. Navy 31 DOCUMENT THREE Strategic Concepts for the U.S. Navy 53 DOCUMENT FOUR SEA PLAN 2000 103 DOCUMENT FIVE The Future of U.S. Sea Power 125 List of Abbreviations and Acronyms 135 Index 143 About the Editor 155 The Newport Papers 157 Foreword U.S. Naval Strategy in the 1970s: Selected Documents, edited by John Hattendorf, is the thirtieth in the Newport Paper monograph series and the second in a projected four- volume set of authoritative documents on U.S. Navy strategy and strategic planning. The first volume in this series, U.S. Naval Strategy in the 1990s: Selected Documents, Newport Paper 27, also edited by Professor Hattendorf, appeared in September 2006. The current volume was originally intended to include documents relating to the development of the Navy’s “Maritime Strategy” during the 1980s, but the bulk of rele- vant material has made it advisable to dedicate a separate volume to that period; this is due to appear shortly. A final volume will then cover documents from the 1950s and 1960s. When combined with Professor Hattendorf’s authoritative narrative of the gen- esis and development of the “Maritime Strategy,” The Evolution of the U.S. Navy’s Mari- time Strategy, 1977–1986, Newport Paper 19, these volumes will provide for the first time a comprehensive picture of the evolution of high-level U.S. Navy (and to some extent U.S. Marine Corps) strategic thinking over the half-century following the end of World War II. Many of the documents reprinted here were—and were intended to be—public state- ments. In all cases, however, these documents remain little known and mostly inacces- sible, certainly outside the Navy itself. It is important to emphasize that they need to be read with careful attention to their historical and institutional contexts. They are in any case not always easy to interpret, and they differ substantially in the weight they carried at the time or later. For these reasons, we have felt it essential to present the documents accompanied by a general introductory essay that locates them in their appropriate contexts, as well as by brief commentaries on each providing additional pertinent information and attempting to assess their wider significances. This project, it is hoped, will contribute importantly not just to our understanding of our recent naval history but also to the serious study of military institutions, strategy, and planning more generally. Also, it is worth noting that this material is of more than merely historical interest. The U.S. Navy (with its sister sea services, the Marine Corps and the Coast Guard) is currently on the verge of completing a major review of its naval and maritime strategy in a new era of protracted low-intensity warfare and grow- ing global economic interdependence. This exercise, whatever the immediate result may prove to be, has unquestionably served the valuable purpose of stimulating serious vi THE NEWPORT PAPERS thought about fundamental strategic issues at many levels throughout the Navy. These volumes can be expected to be an important resource in a continuing process of strate- gic assessment and education as the Navy continues to adjust to a rapidly evolving security environment. CARNES LORD Director, Naval War College Press Newport, Rhode Island Acknowledgments The explanatory notes and introduction to this collection of documents from the 1970s and its predecessor on the 1990s, as will those of the forthcoming monograph on similar documents from the 1980s, represent an adaptation and extension of the infor- mation initially gathered by Captain Peter M. Swartz, USN (Ret.), of the Center for Naval Analyses (CNA), Alexandria, Virginia. He used this material in developing a PowerPoint presentation covering the history of the U.S. Navy’s strategic documents over the thirty-seven years between 1970 and 2007. The version used for reference in this work was that presented at a 9 May 2007 Strategy Conference at CNA.* Captain Swartz presented his briefing widely, extensively circulated it during its devel- opment, garnering new insight and information at each iteration over two and a half years. Additionally, in order to support my work in preparing this volume, the 2007 CNA Strategy Conference and an earlier one on 27 June 2006 devoted considerable time to the strategy documents included in this volume. I am particularly grateful to Captain Swartz for sharing with me his research materials and e-mail correspondence as well as for reviewing and critiquing drafts of sections of this book. In addition, I thank Rear Admiral Michael McDevitt and Christine Fox of the CNA Corporation for their permission and encouragement to use and elaborate upon these materials. In essence, the introduction and the explanatory notes in this volume are a composite, the editor’s attempt to reconcile the various recollections and comments of a variety of the participants who participated in writing these documents. As such, this work is only a limited contribution toward a complete and detailed history of naval thinking in this decade, a history that will need to be written in the light of the additional docu- ments and materials that will progressively become available in the future for historical research and open publication. Many people who participated in various stages of the writing and publication of these documents made constructive comments and provided additional information at the 2006 and 2007 CNA Strategy Conferences and in related correspondence. I am grateful to all who have provided their insights at various points, whether in the development of Captain Swartz’s briefing, during the 2006 and 2007 CNA conferences, or in * Peter M. Swartz, principal author, “US Navy Capstone Strategies & Concepts (1970–2007): Insights for the US Navy of 2007, Version of 9 May 2007,”with graphics by Karin B. Duggin. viii THE NEWPORT PAPERS subsequent e-mail correspondence with me, including Mr. Dave Baker; Captain Roger Barnett, USN (Ret.); Captain Joe Bouchard, USN (Ret.); Captain Linton Brooks, USN (Ret.); Rear Admiral Tom Brooks, USN (Ret.); Commander Mitch Brown, USN (Ret.); Captain John Byron, USN (Ret.); Rear Admiral Bill Center, USN (Ret.); Dr. Greg Cox (CNA); Mr. Seth Cropsey; Commander Steve Deal, USN; Captain Dick Diamond, USN (Ret.); Commander John Dickmann, USN (Ret.); Commander Tom Disy, USN; Cap- tain Will Dossel, USN (Ret.); Captain Mike Dunaway, USN (Ret.); Captain Jamie Foggo, USN; Dr. Norman Friedman; Dr. Hank Gaffney (CNA); Mr. Mike Gerson (CNA); Commander Neil Golightly, USNR (Ret.); Ms. Gia Harrington; Captain Robby Harris, USN (Ret.); Mr. Richard Haver; Captain Bradd Hayes, USN (Ret.); Rear Admiral Jerry Holland, USN (Ret.); Admiral James Holloway III, USN (Ret.); Dr. Tom Hone; Captain Wayne P. Hughes, Jr., USN (Ret.); Ms. Kate Lea (CNA); Captain Ed Long, USN (Ret.); Mr. Mike Markowitz (CNA); Captain Rod McDaniel, USN (Ret.); Rear Admiral Mike McDevitt, USN (Ret.), of CNA; Commander Bryan McGrath, USN (Ret.); Captain Kenneth McGruther, USN (Ret.); Mr. Anthony McIvor; Mr. Edward S. Miller; Captain Judy (Holden) Myers, USN (Ret.); Commander Paul Nagy, USN; Mr. Ron O’Rourke; Rear Admiral Frank Pandolfe, USN; Captain Jim Patton, USN (Ret.); Rear Admiral Bill Pendley, USN (Ret.); Dr.