2010 Almanac Highlights

U.S. Navy Organization and Missions

In 2010, the U.S. Navy remains on war footing and is active in nearly every region of the world. More than 44,000 Sailors are deployed, and 61 percent of the Navy’s ships are underway away from homeport. Overseas, the NATO-led war in Afghanistan has become a grim routine, as have a number of less well-publicized stability operations in which the U.S. Navy is involved, from Africa to southeast Asia.

Some of the action, however, has made front-page news. For example, in April, off Somalia, the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Bainbridge intercepted the MV Maersk Alabama, a U.S. container ship hijacked by Somali pirates. Bainbridge was underway with a U.S. strike group that formed the nucleus of coalition Combined Task Force 151, patrolling the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea and the southerly approaches to the Suez Canal. In a closely coordinated action, U.S. and coalition forces carried out a dramatic resolution to the standoff with Maersk Alabama’s hijackers.

As the situation worsened and the pirates attempted to escape with a single hostage, a Navy SEAL team’s snipers arrived as a backup in case negotiations broke down. Allied and U.S. intelligence systems, including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), captured infrared footage of the four Somalis and their hostage, the cargo ship’s master, Richard Phillips. Bainbridge’s captain, Cmdr. Frank Castellano, perceived imminent danger to Phillips and gave the order to fire. The sharpshooters killed three of the pirates. The task force rescued Phillips, recovered Maersk Alabama and arrested a fourth Somali, who now faces trial in the United States.

Maersk Alabama was again attacked by pirates off Somalia in mid-November, but was able to fend off the assault through a combination of evasive maneuvers, small-arms fire and a Long Range Acoustic Device, which emits earsplitting tones, according to the Navy.

Back at home, the Navy is developing new organizations to better match the fleet’s capabilities with advanced missions and threats that have evolved in the arenas of ballistic-missile defense and cyber warfare.

For example, to manage the fleet’s integrated air defense, cruise-missile defense and ballistic-missile defense capabilities, the service established Navy Air and Missile Defense Command at Dahlgren, Va., in March under Rear Adm. Alan B. Hicks, who retired in November. The new command is focused on countering some of the highest threats to U.S. naval operations throughout the world’s littoral regions, as well as manning, training and equipping forces for naval ballistic-missile defense missions.

Until the arrival of next-generation surface combatants based on the development of the Zumwalt-class (DDG 1000) destroyer, some of the Navy’s current Aegis warships have been modified with ballistic-missile defense capabilities. Three guided-missile cruisers (USS Lake Erie, USS Port Royal and USS Shiloh) and 15 Arleigh Burke-class DDGs have upgraded Aegis radar and computer systems and are armed with Standard Missile-3 interceptors, which are capable of hitting Scud missiles and other similar weapons. As a potential countermove to nuclear saber-rattling from North Korea and, possibly, Iran, the Navy will deploy Surface Action Groups (SAGs) that include modified Aegis ships to act as mobile regional ballistic-missile defense bases, according to Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates.

Another significant move for 2010 is the re-establishment in November of U.S. Tenth Fleet, a former World War II-era anti-submarine command, reinvented today as Navy Cyber Command. Tenth Fleet is the naval component of the Department of Defense’s (DoD’s) U.S. Cyber Command, which is based at Fort Meade, Md., and focused on managing and protecting the warfighting capabilities of defense information technology networks.

At a Washington forum on “information dominance,” Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Gary Roughead noted that Fleet Cyber Command will improve and secure the Navy’s processes dedicated to developing and moving information and making decisions. The CNO wants the Navy to create an “information dominance corps” of 44,000 skilled information technology (IT) professionals.  “Fleet Cyber Command will focus on the operations,” Roughead told an audience at the Center for Strategic and International Studies Oct. 1. “Fleet Cyber Command will be the cyber operator for the Navy. … [T]he goal in doing this is to ensure the commander gets the right information to the right place at the right time so that [he] can effectively perceive, understand, reason, decide and … command.”

The new version of Tenth Fleet joins U.S. Cyber Command amid the backdrop of new, complex threats to Defense Department (DoD) computer networks. These threats include a spate of recent denial-of-service attacks that have cast a shadow over the security of DoD’s IT infrastructure and the network-dependent platforms and weapon systems it supports in the field. The job for Cyber Command, including Tenth Fleet, is to protect Navy and DoD IT networks and bolster the security of the armed forces’ command and decision capabilities.

Status of the Navy

As of November, 175 Navy ships (61 percent of the fleet) were away from homeport. One hundred fifteen ships were deployed overseas, along with 44,265 personnel. The total force includes 328,466 active duty (including 51,543 officers and 272,417 enlisted) and 6,432 mobilized Reserves. The Department of the Navy also includes 194,562 civilian employees. The Navy’s fleet comprises a deployable battle force of 285 ships and submarines and more than 3,700 operational aircraft.

Fleet Force Structure

The Navy’s battle force comprises ships and aircraft assigned to the U.S. Atlantic and Pacific fleets, U.S. Naval Forces Europe and U.S. Naval Forces Central Command. The battle force is supported by the logistics vessels of U.S. Military Sealift Command. The chief of Naval Reserve and Naval Special Warfare Command also provide combat and support units.

The fleet, force and Reserve commands are responsible for manning, training and equipping ships, squadrons and other units for operational naval service. While deployed overseas, naval units fall under the leadership of fleet commanders and regional combatant commanders, such as those operating in and around Iraq, which is overseen by U.S. Central Command.

When deployed, the Navy’s fleets are organized into three basic formations: Carrier Strike Groups, Expeditionary Strike Groups and SAGs.

The Navy has 11 nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, including 10 Nimitz-class hulls and USS Enterprise. A new class of carriers, based on the design of Gerald R. Ford, is under construction at Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding, Newport News, Va. These massive ships deploy with carrier air wings made up of 85-100 aircraft, possessing greater total firepower and strike sortie capacity than many other nations’ land-based air forces.

The modern carrier air wing includes F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighters and, soon, new F-35 Lightning II fifth-generation fighters. The carriers’ strike fighters play multiple roles, with some forming a high-altitude combat air patrol to protect others loaded with bombs and missiles for striking targets inland. E-2C/D Hawkeye airborne early warning aircraft function as airborne command and control hubs, helping the carriers’ strike fighters identify their targets as well as protecting the ships below from airborne attack. EA-18G and EA-6B electronic attack jets join the strike sorties to clear a path through enemy air defenses. Other jets are fitted with large external fuel tanks, to replenish the fighters on their sorties and when they return to the ship.

As had been the case during the Cold War, the carrier remains the centerpiece of the Navy’s power-projection capability. However, the Carrier Strike Group (CSG) differs from the typical Cold War battle group in that the strike group has a flexible escort of Aegis air defense ships, long-range surface strike capability from a guided-missile cruiser and an escorting nuclear-powered fast-attack submarine or an SSGN guided-missile submarine capable of launching a large number of Tomahawk missiles.

The next-generation super carriers will require a smaller crew and air wing complement than the 5,680 that populate today’s newest Nimitz-class ship, USS George W. Bush. The Ford class will feature automated flight decks and aircraft-handling systems to enable a higher daily sortie rate than possible now (160 versus today’s rate of 140 sorties). Also, the new ships’ nuclear power plants will generate 150 percent more electricity than the reactors aboard today’s carriers. With a large surplus of electrical power available, the ships will harness this in new technologies, such as an electromagnetic aircraft launch and a trap system that can scale the energy applied to each launch and store the energy generated by each arrested landing. The carriers will be able to launch and recover a greater variety of aircraft, including heavy strike fighters and more fragile UAVs.

The SAGs are based upon the Navy’s Aegis-equipped guided-missile cruisers and destroyers, which are capable of performing battle group air defense and anti-submarine warfare, as well as long-range strike, naval surface fire support (using their guns to aid troops moving ashore) and theater ballistic-missile defense.

The Navy’s surface force includes 22 Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruisers and 56 Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers, with more Arleigh Burke-class DDGs now under construction, including Gravely, Jason Dunham, William P. Lawrence, Spruance and Michael Murphy. At the heart of these warships is the Aegis Combat System, comprising the AN/SPY-1B/D electronically scanned phased-array radars, the Standard Missile (SM) family of weapons and a powerful Aegis computer’s command decision system.

With their massive firepower, the fleet’s Aegis warships support all of the Navy’s deploying formations, including CSGs and the Expeditionary Strike Groups (ESGs). The surface combatants’ role is to protect the carriers and amphibious assault formations, and provide naval gunfire support for naval and Marine units operating throughout the littoral and ashore.

The Navy’s amphibious formations are the centerpieces for the Expeditionary Strike Groups (ESGs), which have air defense, anti-submarine and anti-surface capabilities (with an Aegis cruiser, an Aegis destroyer and a guided-missile frigate), as well as an extensive expeditionary force projection role. The ESG’s amphibious squadron, composed of several assault, transport and landing ships, embarks the 2,200 personnel and equipment of a U.S. Marine Corps expeditionary unit. These formations typically are shadowed by a nuclear-powered fast-attack submarine, such as those of the Virginia class, that provide additional undersea warfare capabilities as well as covert intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.

At the heart of the typical ESG is a multimission amphibious assault ship, such as the 40,650-ton helicopter carriers of the Wasp class, which typically host the command element and the heavy equipment of a deployed Marine Expeditionary Unit, including rotary wing aircraft such as the MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor, and fixed-wing aircraft such as the AV-8B Harrier II short takeoff and vertical landing attack jet.

The Navy and Marine Corps are developing new designs for future “big deck amphibs,” beginning with Makin Island, which was recently commissioned. Makin Island has a hull form similar to the Wasp class but with a gas turbine power plant that is easier to maintain than the steam power plant aboard the Wasp class. Another new design in development, the LHA-Replacement project, will have a larger hangar area in place of the current design’s well deck, to improve the ships’ aviation support capabilities.

On Nov. 7, the Navy commissioned USS New York, the fifth ship of the San Antonio-class landing platform docks. The new LPDs displace 24,900 tons under full load, and carry a battalion (700-800 Marines and their equipment, including light armored vehicles and tanks). New York and two others of the same class, Arlington and Somerset, are the Navy’s monuments to the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States. New York has 7.5 tons of steel salvaged from the destroyed World Trade Center incorporated into its bow.

Legacy

The U.S. Navy traces its roots to the founding of the Continental Navy on Oct. 13, 1775. After the American War of Independence, the new nation sold its small fleet and was without naval power until the 1780s. Confrontations with France and Mediterranean pirates influenced the framers of the U.S. Constitution in 1789 “to provide and maintain a Navy.” The First U.S. Congress then authorized the building and fitting out of three ships, United States, Constellation and Constitution, which were launched in 1797. In April 1798, the Fifth U.S. Congress formally established the Department of the Navy and then-President John Adams appointed its first secretary, Benjamin Stoddert.

The Secretary of the Navy

Raymond E. Mabus, 75th secretary of the Navy, manages the department’s 900,000 personnel and a combined annual budget of more than $150 billion. A former surface warfare officer, U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia and governor of Mississippi, Mabus’ duties now include developing and implementing of the policies that govern the construction, outfitting and repair of naval ships, aircraft, equipment and facilities. Within Mabus’ office, there are four assistant secretaries with specific oversight responsibilities. Among them, Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Research, Development and Acquisition) Sean J. Stackley is responsible for the department’s more than $50 billion modernization investment portfolio, which develops, acquires and delivers the Navy’s and Marine Corps’ ships, aircraft, ground vehicles and weapons.

The Chief of Naval Operations

Adm. Roughead, the 29th CNO, is a career surface warfare officer with leadership experience in both Atlantic and Pacific fleets. The CNO, a four-star flag officer and member of the DoD’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, is, in partnership with the commandant of the Marine Corps, one of the Navy Department’s senior uniformed commanders. The CNO answers to the Navy secretary for the management and resourcing of the Navy’s shore establishment and operating forces.

Adm. Jonathan W. Greenert, a career submariner, is the vice chief of naval operations, a key post on the DoD’s Joint Requirements Oversight Council (JROC). One of Greenert’s roles is to promote JROC approval of the requirements for the Navy Department’s modernization investment portfolio, as overseen by the secretary’s office.

Major Commands

■ Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command (USFF); U.S. Second Fleet; U.S. Fourth Fleet

Headquartered in Norfolk, Va., and led by Adm. John C. Harvey Jr., Fleet Forces Command is responsible for the readiness of all operational fleet units in the Navy, on both coasts, and those based overseas. Harvey also is a combatant commander, supporting U.S. and NATO operations in the Western Hemisphere. As an operational command, USFF has the geographic area of responsibility that includes the Atlantic Ocean from the North to the South Poles, the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Pacific Ocean waters from Central and South America to the Galapagos Islands. Harvey also serves as the naval component commander for U.S. Northern Command, the DoD’s joint organization assigned homeland defense duties.

Vice Adm. Melvin G. Williams Jr. leads U.S. Second Fleet, which is a component of USFF responsible for training Atlantic-based forces for worldwide deployment. The Navy has reactivated the World War II-era U.S. Fourth Fleet, now based at Mayport, Fla., under Rear Adm. Victor G. Guillory. Fourth Fleet is the dedicated naval component of U.S. Southern Command, which is responsible for regional humanitarian and national security operations in the Caribbean Sea area, and South and Central America.

■ Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet (USPACFLT); U.S. Third Fleet; U.S. Seventh Fleet

Headquartered at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, U.S. Pacific Fleet is the world’s largest naval command, responsible for more than 180 ships (63 percent of the Navy’s total battle force) and 1,500 aircraft operating over more than half the Earth’s surface, including the Pacific and Indian oceans. USPACFLT is led by Adm. Patrick M. Walsh, a fighter pilot and former member of the “Blue Angels” naval aviation demonstration team. Walsh is responsible for more than 125,000 Sailors, Marines and Navy Department civilian employees serving at bases from San Diego to Seattle, Japan, Korea, the Marianas and Singapore.

USPACFLT’s subordinate commands include U.S. Third Fleet, under Vice Adm. Richard W. Hunt. Third Fleet defends the western maritime approaches to the continental United States and Alaska. U.S. Seventh Fleet, under Vice Adm. John M. Bird, has an area of responsibility that includes more than 48 million nautical miles, from the International Dateline to the India-Pakistan border. USPACFLT and its components are heavily engaged in warfighting, security and stability operations from Afghanistan and Iraq to eastern Africa and the Malacca Strait. The fleets’ strike groups also contribute to ongoing counterpiracy and international security operations in the Indian Ocean.

■ Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT); U.S. Fifth Fleet

Naval Forces Central Command, headquartered at Bahrain and led by Vice Adm. William E. Gortney, is the maritime component of U.S. Central Command, which is fighting counterinsurgencies in Afghanistan and Iraq, and patrolling sea lanes from the eastern Mediterranean to the Horn of Africa, the Persian Gulf, central and southwest Asia. NAVCENT/Fifth Fleet’s ships and squadrons patrol an area of responsibility that includes 7.5 million square miles, including the strategic transit areas through which pass more than 80 percent of the world’s oil supply. Fifth Fleet also contributes forces to coalition operations, such as those of Combined Task Force 151.

■ Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe (NAVEUR)/U.S. Naval Forces Africa (NAVAF); Commander, U.S. Sixth Fleet

Based at Naples, Italy, under Adm. Mark P. Fitzgerald, NAVEUR and NAVAF provide naval forces to patrol more than 20 million square nautical miles of ocean on behalf of U.S. European Command and the newly established U.S. Africa Command. Fitzgerald also is responsible for NATO-led naval operations in the Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea and Caspian Sea regions, as well as those off the west coast of Africa. Fitzgerald’s command guidance for 2010 includes continued interaction with friendly naval forces to bolster security and humanitarian aid partnerships between NATO allies and developing nations, such as Ghana, Senegal and Sierra Leone.

■ Commander, Navy Installations Command (CNIC)

Based at the Washington Navy Yard, under Vice Adm. Michael C. Vitale, CNIC is responsible for the upkeep and readiness of all Navy bases and other shore facilities. CNIC manages the construction, maintenance and support of facilities within six domestic naval regions (including the Naval District Washington) and five regions overseas (including Europe, Africa and southwest Asia, Hawaii, Japan, Korea and the Marianas).

■ Bureau of Personnel (BUPERS); Commander, Navy Personnel Command

Vice Adm. Mark E. Ferguson III is the chief of naval personnel. BUPERS is the Navy’s office of human resources, responsible for the recruitment, retention, career development and physical standards of the service’s people. Headquartered at Arlington, Va., and Millington, Tenn., Navy Personnel Command oversees the assignment, pay, advancement and promotion processes for all enlisted members and the Navy’s officer corps.

■ Naval Education and Training Command (NETC)

Headquartered at Pensacola, Fla., under Rear Adm. Joseph F. Kilkenny, NETC is responsible for the professional development of the Navy Department’s Sailors, Marines and civil service work force. NETC includes a number of training centers located around the United States, such as the Recruit Training Command, Naval Station Great Lakes, Chicago; and the Officer Training Command, Newport, Naval Station Newport, R.I. NETC also supervises 57 Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC) units at colleges and universities throughout the United States, and 570 Junior NROTC units at civilian high schools in 43 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Italy and Japan.

■ Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED)

BUMED manages the Navy’s medical corps and is responsible for the health care of approximately 700,000 active-duty Sailors and Marines, and 2.6 million dependents and retired personnel. Vice Adm. Adam M. Robinson Jr. is the surgeon general of the Navy and chief of BUMED. The bureau operates 157 medical treatment facilities and 140 dental treatment facilities worldwide, as well as providing shipboard surgery and other health-care services to deployed naval forces.

■ Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR)

Based at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., under Vice Adm. David J. Venlet, NAVAIR develops, acquires and supports the aircraft and weapon systems of naval aviation. NAVAIR manages more than 28,000 personnel at facilities across the United States, including the weapons systems ranges at China Lake, Calif., and Point Mugu, Calif.; aircraft programs at Patuxent River; training aircraft and systems at Orlando, Fla.; support facilities at Lakehurst, N.J.; and supply and maintenance facilities at Jacksonville, Fla., North Island, Calif., and Cherry Point, N.C. Overseas, NAVAIR manages aviation support facilities at Atsugi, Japan, and Naples, Italy.

The Navy Department’s evolving vision for aviation acquisition includes the continued development and fielding of the P-8 Poseidon multimission maritime patrol aircraft and the F-35 Lightning II strike fighter, as well as autonomous unmanned aircraft systems, such as the MQ-8 Fire Scout. In alignment with the department’s energy strategy, NAVAIR has launched a series of initiatives for 2010 that encourage fuel savings, increase naval aviation engine efficiency and the use of flight simulators, while still meeting training and combat readiness requirements.

■ Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA)

Based at the Washington Navy Yard, under Vice Adm. Kevin M. McCoy, NAVSEA is the largest of the Navy’s five systems commands, the organizations responsible for the Navy Department’s acquisition and logistics support functions. NAVSEA’s role is to develop, deliver and maintain the fleet’s ships, submarines, surface and undersea warfare weapon systems. NAVSEA’s more than 50,000 personnel manage an investment portfolio of more than 150 projects with an annual budget of approximately $30 billion (one quarter of the Navy’s total budget).

NAVSEA manages the four naval shipyards that maintain, repair and upgrade the fleet’s ships and submarines, as well as serving as the supervisor of Shipbuilding Conversion and Repair, which oversees the service’s shipbuilding contracts. NAVSEA also manages a distributed laboratory construct that includes 10 facilities called Naval Surface Warfare Centers and Naval Undersea Warfare Centers. The facilities provide engineering support to various NAVSEA acquisition projects, the fleets and other customers.

NAVSEA’s major initiatives for 2010 include continued development of next-generation surface combatants (such as the Littoral Combat Ship), submarines and aircraft carriers (such as the new CVN 78-class super carriers).

■ Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) 

Based at San Diego, under Rear Adm. Michael C. Bachmann, SPAWAR is an engineering and acquisition center for developing and delivering to the fleet networked command and control, communication and space systems (navigation and communication satellites), and their intelligence products (such as information and imagery). SPAWAR’s 7,600 personnel manage a variety of information technology projects with an annual budget of more than $6 billion. SPAWAR’s field activities include the Systems Centers at San Diego, Charleston, S.C., New Orleans and Norfolk, Va. SPAWAR’s strategic plan through 2013 is focused on delivering products that promote naval knowledge superiority and increased productivity.

■ Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC)

Based at the Washington Navy Yard, under Rear Adm. W. Greg Shear, chief of naval engineers, NAVFAC is responsible for public works, family housing and public utilities (water, heating, electrical power, etc.) at Department of the Navy facilities throughout the world. NAVFAC’s 1,750 uniformed, 16,500 civil service and 500 contractors manage the Navy’s military construction projects and deliver more than $11 billion in services annually. NAVFAC’s field activities include the Engineering Service Center and the Naval Facilities Expeditionary Logistics Center, both at Naval Base Ventura County in Port Hueneme, Calif. NAVFAC also is the administrative home of the Naval Construction Force, the “Seabees.”

■ Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP)

Based at Mechanicsburg, Pa., under Rear Adm. Michael J. Lyden, the Navy Supply Corps’ responsibilities include supply chain management, transportation, warehousing, fuel, postal services and the Navy food service program. NAVSUP’s more than 34,000 uniformed personnel manage global logistics services for the Navy’s fleets while at home and deployed. The command also manages the Navy Exchange Service Command, which operates retail locations on naval bases and ships’ stores at sea.