By Army Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone C. Marshall Jr.
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, March 27, 2014 – The ever-changing global
security environment makes the worldwide presence of naval assets more
important than ever, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus told the Senate Armed Services
Committee today.
Mabus testified alongside Chief of Naval Operations Adm.
Jonathan W. Greenert and Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James F. Amos about the
current state of the Navy and Marine Corps.
“In today’s dynamic security environment, naval assets are
more critical than ever,” Mabus said. “In military terms, they provide presence
worldwide.”
“They reassure our partners that we are there and remind
potential adversaries that we’re never far away,” he added.
This presence, the secretary said, provides immediate and
capable options for the commander in chief when a crisis develops anywhere in
the world.
“Over two centuries ago, the United States had a crucial
role in the world,” Mabus said. “Today, that role is exponentially greater.”
“Whether facing high-end combat or asymmetrical threats or
humanitarian needs,” he said, “America’s maritime forces are ready and present
on day one of any crisis for any eventuality.”
Mabus detailed global naval operations this past year from
across the Pacific to Afghanistan, and from the Gulf of Guinea to the Arctic
Circle.
“The 2012 Defense Strategic Guidance and the newly released
[Quadrennial Defense Review] are both maritime in focus and require presence of
naval forces around the world,” he said.
The secretary explained four “key factors” that have made
that global presence and action possible -- people, platforms, power, and
partnerships.
“In these fiscally constrained times, we’ve used these
priorities to help balance between the readiness of the force, our
capabilities, and our capacity,” Mabus said.
Our people are our biggest advantage, he said, and we have
to make sure they continue to get the tools they need to do their jobs.
“In compensation, we’ve increased sea pay to make sure those
sailors and Marines deployed aboard ship are appropriately recognized,” Mabus said.
The secretary noted this budget also seeks to control the
growth in compensation benefits, which “threatens to impact all the other parts
of our budget.”
Quoting Greenert, Mabus noted “If this is not addressed, as
the CNO so forcibly puts it, the quality of work for our sailors and Marines
will almost certainly decline.”
On platforms, Mabus said shipbuilding and other platforms
remain key elements of maritime power.
“The number of ships, submarines and aircraft in our fleet
is what gives us the capacity to provide that global presence,” he said.
“While we have the most advanced platforms in the world,
quantity has a quality all its own,” Mabus said. “I think it’s important to
understand how we got to our current fleet size.”
On Sept. 11, 2001, the U.S. Navy stood at 316 ships, he
explained, and by 2008 that number had dropped to 278 ships.
Mabus said in the four years before he took office, the Navy
put 19 ships under contract, but since then, he has added 60 ships under
contract.
“By the end of this decade, our plan will return the fleet
to 300 ships,” he said. “We’re continuing our initiatives to spend smarter and
more efficiently.”
The Navy is driving down costs, Mabus said, through things
like competition, multi-year buys and driving harder bargains for taxpayer
money.
The secretary said projecting power is a “national security
issue,” central to U.S. naval forces and their ability to provide the presence
needed.
“Dramatic price increases for fuel threaten to degrade our
operations and training,” Mabus said, noting the potential impact to the number
of platforms acquired.
“Having more varied, stably priced, American-produced
sources of energy makes us better warfighters,” he said. “From sail to coal to
oil to nuclear, and now to alternative fuels, the Navy has led in energy
innovation.”
In today’s complex security environment, Mabus said
partnerships with other nations, evidenced by interoperability, by exercises,
and by operations, continue to increase in importance.
“The Navy and Marine Corps, by nature of their forward
presence, are naturally suited to develop these relationships, particularly in
the innovative, small footprint ways that are required,” he said.
Mabus said the fiscal year 2015 budget submission seeks to
provide the Navy and Marine Corps with the necessary equipment, training, and
tools needed to carry out the services’ missions as expected.
As he concluded, Mabus lauded the courageous and faithful
service of his sailors, Marines, civilians and their families.
“There are never any permanent homecomings for sailors or
Marines,” he said. “In peacetime, in wartime, and all the time, they remain
forward deployed, providing presence, and providing whatever is needed by our
country.
“This has been true for 238 years,” Mabus continued. “It is
our task to make sure it remains true now and in the future.”
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