Military Officer - October 2006 - (Page 47) The Navy’s 28th chief of naval operations says he wants to make sure future budgets can provide a fleet of 313 ships, 3,800 aircraft, and 340,000 high-quality sailors to operate and maintain them. Command of influence In an interview as he began his second year as CNO, Mullen said his priorities in leading the Navy were shaped profoundly by a seven-month tour as commander of Southern Command, renamed Joint Forces Command, based in Naples, Italy. There, Mullen oversaw NATO missions in the Balkans, the Mediterranean, and Iraq. He also commanded U.S. naval forces in Europe. “I had lots of responsibilities. Three of them influenced me greatly,” Mullen says. The first was command of NATO forces in the Balkans, particularly in Kosovo. Six years after that war ended, Mullen says, NATO still has 17,000 troops on the ground. That’s because there is no movement in the country, or from the international community, toward establishing a stable, enduring government. “You’ve got a lot of parents trying to raise kids who, six years later, are wondering, ‘Well, what’s changed?’ ” NATO is there to ensure day-to-day security, but the reality is that Kosovo’s future doesn’t inspire confidence, especially among its own youth. Still, a positive impression Mullen took away from his experience in Kosovo was the critical role that Navy members can play as part of a NATO-led coalition. Skills are CNO Adm. Michael G. Mullen (clockwise, from top left) assists Seabees rebuilding Mississippi following Hurricane Katrina; gears up with forces in Okinawa, Japan; and speaks to troops deployed in Iraq. Naval personnel on the USNS Mercy provide medical care all over the world. enhanced, and sailors’ perspectives of the world are broadened. A second aspect of the NATO assignment that shaped his priorities as CNO, Mullen says, was Operation Active Endeavor. Created under the Washington Treaty (signed by NATO countries following the attack on Sept. 11, 2001), Active Endeavor coordinates joint patrols in the Mediterranean Sea of ships from “This is a national war. This isn’t a Marine Corps war or an Army war. So I want the Navy to participate as much as possible.” — CNO Adm. Michael Mullen Mullen made that remark to Indonesian officers attending their naval command and staff college in Surabaya last July. The CNO was invited to address the officers by Indonesia’s top naval officer. Mullen first struck on the concept of a thousand-ship global navy during a speech in September 2005 delivered to the 17th International Seapower Symposium at the Naval War College in Newport, R.I. “It resonated,” Mullen says of his message that day. “[Representatives of ] 72 countries sitting in a room, 49 chiefs of navies or coast guards, and it resonated far beyond what I had even anticipated.” Today, he says, the U.S. Navy operates with regional navies in the Western Pacific, South America, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Persian Gulf. The cooperation is to combat piracy, illegal drug traffic, illegal immigration, weapons of mass destruction, and slavery, thus enhancing maritime security on which 90 percent of world commerce depends. several nations to deter trafficking in illegal drugs, illegal immigrants, and weapons of mass destruction. The operation was 18 months old when Mullen took command. He immediately was impressed by how smoothly the navies operated. “Fifteen years ago that would have been all U.S. Navy 6th Fleet ships. Now I am looking at putting in one U.S. ship and getting the leverage of 10. That’s a model for the thousand-ship navy.” The “thousand-ship navy” refers to Mullen’s plan to partner the U.S. fleet closer than ever with navies of any ally, large or small fleet, in a combined and sustained effort to secure the world’s seaways. “Where our previous maritime strategy was designed just to defeat a single enemy at sea, our new one must be centered upon building partnerships across the world,” says Mullen. Impressions of war A third influence on Mullen from his NATO command experience was working with 26 other countries to establish Iraq’s military academy, war college, and staff college. He traveled twice to Iraq, where he heard young Iraqis, before and after their national elections, vow, “We are not going to go back to the way we were.” While in Iraq, Mullen also saw the strain on Army and Marine Corps ground forces. One true parallel between Iraq and the Vietnam War is the one-year deployments for most forces. That has to change, Mullen says, or “it will break families.” As CNO, Mullen saw an opportunity to have sailors relieve some of the pressure, though some Navy units — Seabees, medical staff, SEALs, and explosive teams — “are running just as hard as the Army and Marine Corps.” OCTOBER 2006 PHOTO: CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT, PHOTOGRAPHER’S MATE 2ND CLASS ROBERT JAY STRATCHKO, USN; MASS COMMUNICATION SPC. 1ST CLASS MARK A. RANKIN, USN; LANCE CPL. SHEILA M. BROOKS, USMC/USN; CHIEF MASS COMMUNICATION SPC. EDWARD G. MARTENS, USN MILITARY OFFICER 47
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