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More Marines to go on ships, strategy says

Expect to see Marine detachments on a “wider variety” of ships and Coast Guard cutters, according to the sea services’ new maritime strategy.

“Marines will continue to be employed as air-ground task forces operating from amphibious ships to conduct variety of missions, such as power projection,” the strategy says. “But they will also be employed as detachments aboard a wider variety of ships and cutters for maritime security missions.”

The Wednesday announcement was part of the first major revision of U.S. naval strategy in 25 years. Officials from the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard said they plan to focus more on humanitarian missions and improving international cooperation as a way to prevent conflicts.

“We believe that preventing wars is as important as winning wars,” the strategy says.

The strategy reflects a broader Defense Department effort to use aid, training and other cooperative efforts to encourage stability in fledgling democracies and create relationships around the globe that can be leveraged if a regional crisis breaks.

“Although our forces can surge when necessary to respond to crises, trust and cooperation cannot be surged,” says the 16-page document titled “A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower.”

It also says forces will be concentrated “where tensions are high or where we wish to demonstrate to our friends and allies our commitment to security” — something the U.S. did earlier this year in sending an additional aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf region as a show of force toward Iran.

“Credible combat power will be continuously posted in the Western Pacific and the Arabian Gulf/Indian Ocean to protect our vital interests, assure our friends ... and deter and dissuade potential adversaries,” the strategy document says.

The strategy was being unveiled before naval representatives of 100 countries who are attending an international symposium on the seas at the Naval War College in Newport, R.I. It will be described to them by Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead, Marine Commandant Gen. James Conway and Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad Allen.

It represents the first time that the Navy, the Marine Corps and the Coast Guard have collaborated on a single, common strategy for defending the U.S. homeland and protecting U.S. interests overseas.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates hinted at the cooperative strategy during his recent five-country swing through Central and South America. Pointing to the recent tour of the Navy hospital ship Comfort, which delivered medical care to people in 12 Latin American countries, Gates said such aid is critical to solidifying U.S. bonds with other nations. The amphibious assault ship Peleliu recently returned from a four-month tour in the Pacific, and the dock landing ship Fort McHenry is heading this week for a seven-month mission along the west coast of Africa.

Adm. Mike Mullen — who recently left his job as head of the Navy to become chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff — has said he sees the Navy’s humanitarian work as key to the effort to defeat terrorism by winning hearts and minds.

When Roughead succeeded Mullen as chief of naval operations earlier this month, he called in a speech for more international partnerships to make the Navy a “force for good” around the globe.

DISCUSS: The maritime strategy