Navy Alternative Force Structure Study
ComNavOps just read one of scarier documents he’s read in a long time. The document was an alternative force structure “study” (I’ll explain why the word study is in quotes in a moment) requested by Congress as part of the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
The NDAA required the Navy to produce three “independent” alternative force structure studies including one from the Navy, itself. Question: How can a Navy study about the Navy’s force structure be independent? But, I digress …
The “study” that the Navy produced (1) is claimed, in the opening paragraph, to not represent any official position of the Navy but is “just another independent approach to the problem” of force structure.
Before we go any further, let’s recall what the Navy’s official position on force structure seems to be. The Navy’s position has the following main points:
- Distributed lethality
- Electromagnetic maneuver warfare
- Massive networking / unmanned vehicles
Now, rather than work carefully through the “study”, let’s jump right to the study’s main points.
- Distributed lethality (accomplished via massive networking / unmanned vehicles)
- Electromagnetic maneuver warfare
- Distributed agile logistics
Do you see any similarity? The only thing new or different from the Navy’s current official position is the recognition of the role of logistics and for that I’ll give the study full credit. Other than that, the “study” is just a duplicate of the Navy’s current official force structure philosophy.
So, we had a Navy group commissioned by the Navy to study the Navy and their conclusion was a force structure vision identical to the Navy’s. Shocking! Who could have seen that coming? Now you know why I enclosed the word “study” in quotes. This wasn’t a study, it was a sales brochure for the Navy. What a waste.
The only other point of interest is that the study calls for - you’re never going to guess this - more ships! A Navy study that calls for more ships - bet you didn’t see that coming, did you?
I thought about analyzing the individual points throughout the study but, upon consideration, decided that it would be pointless. The study is just a collection of the Navy’s talking points and contains all the same inherent flaws that we’ve discussed repeatedly. If you have an interest in reading the document, the reference is listed below.
I mentioned that this was one of the scarier documents I’ve read. What’s scary about it is the lockstep mentality exhibited by a supposedly “independent” group of professional naval thinkers and the utter lack of operational and tactical awareness exhibited throughout the document. I would hope for better from our professional warriors but, sadly, it’s not to be. When we go to war, we’re going to have to relearn all about how to fight a war and the price for that learning will be steep and bloody.
________________________________
(1)Report to Congress, “Alternative Future Fleet Platform Architecture Study”,
Belum ada Komentar untuk "Navy Alternative Force Structure Study"
Posting Komentar