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Sen. Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine), chairwoman of the Senate Armed Services Committee's prestigious Subcommittee on Seapower, set a fast pace for her fellow lawmakers during this year's legislative budget cycle. Snowe, who was elected to the Senate in 1994 after representing Maine's Second Congressional District for eight terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, held a series of five hearings in March and April to explore all dimensions of the Navy's shift to a post-Cold War strategy. In her view, the planning and conduct of these hearings represented a highlight of the legislative year for her committee.

"The record that we built," Snowe told Sea Power, "establishes or validates programmatic priorities for the Navy to control the chaotic battlespaces of the future with precision-tracking and targeting technologies." As the first authorization or appropriations panel in Congress to mark and produce a bill on seapower issues, Snowe's subcommittee added more than one billion dollars to the combined Navy and Marine Corps procurement request for a total of $19 billion. More than $251 million was added to the Department's research and development accounts, bringing them to a total of $9.61 billion. This, in Snowe's view, set a high standard for the entire budget cycle.

"Each of these procurement and research initiatives," Snowe said, "will speed the evolution of the fleet from an open-ocean battle service to a more flexible combat organization with improved capabilities to strike inland enemy targets and to operate in shallow waters."

Snowe's worries over current ship build-and-buy rates influenced the decision of House-Senate conferees to require the secretary of defense to submit--by 1 February 2000--a long-range shipbuilding plan (including requirements, funding, and associated risks) through FY 2030. "At the current construction rate of six or seven ships per year," Snowe stated, "the total fleet size would fall substantially below 300 vessels after 2005." As the Seapower Subcommittee's hearings established last spring, the Navy will face a 53-ship deficit in the 2020 time frame if the Department of Defense (DOD) does not build a minimum of eight new ships per year over the next two decades. "I am gravely concerned about the risks associated with a fleet of less than 300 ships," Snowe said.

Snowe agrees with Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jay L. Johnson that evidence stemming from current deployment rates and emerging regional threats should prompt the Navy to consider whether it needs more, not fewer, than the 305 ships specified in the 1997 Quadrennial Defense Review. She emphasized that witnesses before her subcommittee's hearings testified that intensified contingency operations during the past year strained the Navy's resources and personnel--even under today's level of 324 ships. Snowe noted that Navy and Marine Corps contingency deployments overseas have swelled to one every five weeks during the 1990s--compared to one every 11 weeks during the entire Cold War period. "So we have asked the fleet to do much more with less," Snowe said.

Snowe told Sea Power that her subcommittee would hold future administrations accountable for budgeting the funds necessary to sustain a fleet of at least 300 ships. The Seapower Subcommittee also will explore the issue of the fleet's optimum size in future hearings. In her view, two factors suggest that more ships may be needed in the future: (1) the unrelenting pace of the Navy's contingency deployments; and (2) the likelihood that the Navy will be faced with contingency or wartime missions in several locations simultaneously during the age of littoral warfare.

Snowe was deeply impressed by the professionalism and commitment displayed by the Sailors and Marines she observed during visits to the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, the guided-missile cruiser USS Gettysburg, and the mine-countermeasures ship USS Ardent during their operations in the Persian Gulf earlier this year. "They amazed me with their discipline and dedication," she said.

Top sea-service officials told Sea Power that they were equally impressed with Snowe's first year at the helm of the Seapower Subcommittee. "Senator Snowe's active leadership ÿ has been extremely important to the Navy as we work to maintain our warfighting readiness under challenging conditions and as we make key program decisions to recapitalize the Navy of the 21st century," said Johnson. "She understands our issues and programs, spends considerable time listening to our men and women during fleet visits to our forward-deployed forces, and provides key leadership to this most important Subcommittee." [Ed. Note: See next month's Sea Power for a follow-on report on Sen. Snowe's outlook on critical sea-service issues.]

U.S., Japan Sign Missile Defense MOU

The United States and Japan announced on 16 August that they have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on joint-technology research for Navy Theater Wide Ballistic Missile Defense. According to DOD, the agreement calls for the two countries to conduct analysis, preliminary design, and risk-reduction experiments. These collaborative efforts would lead to the design specification and technology selection for the four agreed missile sub-components due to be integrated into the Navy's Standard Missile's latest derivative, the SM-3. According to DOD, the agreement, the culmination of several years of discussion, recognizes the benefits of cooperative research that contributes to enhancing the credibility of the U.S.-Japan security arrangement.

In a related development, a new intelligence report issued by the National Intelligence Council on 9 September at the request of Congress predicts that China will have tens of long-range missiles targeted against the United States within 15 years--having added more survivable land- and sea-based mobile missiles with smaller nuclear warheads to its intercontinental arsenal.

According to James Risen of the New York Times, the report is the strongest statement yet by U.S. intelligence officials on the value to China of a long campaign of nuclear espionage. The report also states that Iran could test a ballistic missile capable of striking the United States with small nuclear warheads in the second half of the next decade.

"You Are Ready"--Jones Salutes WestPac Marines

By Arthur P. Brill Jr. 

Gen. James L. Jones's first trip to the Western Pacific (WestPac) as Marine Corps commandant was a nostalgic adventure. Sandwiched between two 8,300-mile, 24-hour plane rides were eight whirlwind days of briefings, diplomatic visits, and meetings with Marines.

Jones's primary focus was to reaffirm the Corps' commitment in the region, meet with his field commanders, and introduce himself and his "partner," the new Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps, Alford McMichael, to the 18,000 Marines forward-deployed in Korea, Japan, and Okinawa. "This is the most dangerous spot on earth, and you are the tip of the spear," Jones reminded hundreds of Marines in a hangar at the Corps' air station in Iwakuni, Japan. "You are ready, and I thank you."

Iwakuni is 300 miles from the demilitarized zone that separates South Korea from its unpredictable neighbor to the north. Earlier, Jones toured the Joint Security Area at Panmunjom. Poised nearby were 11,000 North Korean artillery pieces and much of its one million-man army. While the world focuses on the Balkans, the Marines in WestPac maintain their focus on the Korean peninsula. "Nothing is more important than our operational forces," Jones told his Marines. "Your presence here stabilizes the region, promotes democracy, and allows the American economy and its culture to flourish."

Jones's return to Okinawa was particularly nostalgic--his uncle fought there in World War II. Jones himself commanded several infantry units on the island during earlier assignments in his career.

"Don't think things can't happen," he reminded a rifle company training in the Corps' rugged Jungle Warfare Training Center. "In every one of my deployments here, my unit was called to a real-world contingency. Remember where you are, who you are--and enjoy your tour!" Jones and McMichael then visited Marines of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit and Sailors aboard the amphibious-assault ship USS Belleau Wood during exercises off Okinawa.

Despite the sweltering heat, Jones and McMichael tirelessly addressed large and small groups of Marines at mess halls, clubs, and theaters, and in machine shops, office spaces, and training areas. When possible, they plunged into the crowd to shake hands, answer questions, and pose for photographs. The pair was warmly received at every stop. They also visited Marine Security Guards at the U.S. embassies in Tokyo and Seoul, and flew two hours to meet 500 Marines in Pohang, Korea.

"Because we have a quality Marine Corps, we should trust each other to do the right thing," said Jones, who often stressed the themes he outlined in his Commandant's Guidance earlier this summer. "Enjoy your time as a Marine and always focus on your unit before yourself. Good things happen to people in good units."

Frequently donning his diplomatic hat, Jones met with two U.S. ambassadors, the Japanese foreign minister, and other high-level foreign and U.S. military officials. He also reaffirmed the Corps' warm bond with the commandant of the South Korean Marine Corps.

Jones was impressed with the quality of life his Marines enjoy in facilities built at Japanese expense at both Iwakuni and Okinawa. However, the relocation of the Corps' air station at Futenma remains an unresolved issue. When Jones met the governor of Okinawa, 75 Japanese reporters attended the politically charged but highly cordial session. The day before, Jones flew over the prospective relocation sites for the station.

Jones was upbeat regarding relations on the island. "Our relationships here have never been better," he told Marines at Futenma.
 

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