1998 Year of the Ocean The Oceans and National Security 



INTRODUCTION 



The United Nations has designated 1998 as the "International Year of the Ocean." This 

 reflects a growing international awareness of the paramount importance of the oceans. For the 

 United States, the oceans are important for both their global economic and military security.' 

 Public policy in the United States, along with private enterprise, have long been shaped by a keen 

 appreciation of the strategic importance of the seas to the nation's economic well-being and 

 global security. 



Oceans, seas, and waterways connect most of the nations and people of the world, either 

 directly or indirectly. As modem communications and transport bring the world's population 

 closer together, the oceans become more important as avenues of connectivity than as barriers of 

 separation. Throughout the nation's history, the seagoing members of U.S. armed and auxiliary 

 forces," and a wide variety of civilian maritime participants,^ have been involved in operations at 

 sea and have assisted in articulating U.S. national security interests in matters pertaining to the 

 oceans. It is on behalf of all those seagoing professionals who are deployed on U.S. flagged 

 vessels around the globe that this paper is offered to promote a greater understanding of the 

 relationship between the oceans and national security. 



NAVAL OPERATIONS 

 Global Mobility and Access 



The role of naval power in U.S. military strategy is in transition. With the end of the Cold 

 War, the United States is much less likely to face the prospects of a world war. However, 

 uncertainty remains over when, where, and how future conflicts involving U.S. armed forces will 

 occur. Draw-downs in the size of U.S. forces maintained, and a more diffuse and complex 

 political environment, have put a premium on flexible forces that can quickly move anywhere 

 and remain there for a long time. These forces must function without undue logistic strain to 

 respond to threats to international peace or security. There is also a premium on flexible forces 

 that are capable of multiple missions. Maritime forces have inherent strengths which make them 

 America's best tool to effectively meet most emergent and changing military situations. 



Through the use of the world's oceans by U.S. forces, the advantage of on-scene 

 capabilities for simultaneously executing all three components of the National Military Strategy 

 is possible without infringing on any nation's sovereignty. According to the Chief of Naval 

 Operations: "The Navy contribution to our national security objectives is defined by the major 



' Whereas other Year of the Ocean discussion papers have used the singular form ocean, this paper uses the plural form as a 

 means of acknowledging the importance of specific locations within a military context. 



2 Includes uniformed members of National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Seagoing Commissioned 

 Officers Corps. 



3 Includes the men and women who command and crew ships which are either owned by or under charter to the Military Sealift 

 Command, the U.S. Maritime Administration, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. 



B-2 



