the concept of floating forward bases for early investigation. Appendix 
F provides an abridged account of background events selected for their 
significance to MOBS. This includes data from interests within the 
private sector who view floating facilities as an innovative and favor- 
able extension of the nation's infrastructure for industrial development 
and environmental preservation. 
1.2. Purpose of the Investigation 
The purpose of this investigation is to evaluate modularized ocean 
basing as an alternative to a war-fighting support structure dependent 
on access to foreign land bases, assuming a U.S. forward strategy of 
"Discriminate Deterrence," 
circa year 2000. 
The following "study objectives" (in contrast to "system objec- 
tives" to be discussed later) have been adopted for this investigation: 
CO) Study Objective (a): Isolate effective basing needs and 
define related functional requirements for a unified logistic 
support structure for joint multi-service military operations, 
assuming continued emphasis on forward strategy by the U.S. in 
the future. 
e Study Objective (b): Describe a range of MOBS concepts that 
satisfy the necessary and sufficient requirements for war- 
fighting support structure in consonance with a _ national 
security strategy of "Discriminate Deterrence," circa year 
2000. 
e Study Objective (c): Determine the performance and technical 
feasibility of selected MOBS concepts. 
e Study Objective (d): Assess performance capabilities of 
selected MOBS concepts compared to a most likely existing 
alternative within the context of a typical Third World 
scenario. 
