A.T. Mahan's 1890 book The Influence of Sea Power on History presented a theory of sea power that proclaimed the capital ship-centered battle fleet essential to any great maritime nation's long-term prosperity. Mahan also formulated a beguilingly...
Since 1991, there has been a significant drop in the number of amphibious ships, a change in the forcible entry concept and a singular military and fiscal focus on the land wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The current state of amphibious assault...
The United States submarine force underwent significant improvement between the two world wars. In World War I, United States’ submarines sank no enemy ships. A little over 20 years later the United States’ submarine force crippled Japan’s...
This study investigates a methodology to develop naval doctrine for the U.S. Navy. It does not write doctrine, but presents a process to produce a workable doctrine encompassing theory, missions, organization, history, and documents currently in...
Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) is an increasingly complex and challenging aspect of maritime warfare. Technologically advanced countries such as Germany, Sweden, and France continue to develop advances in diesel submarine technology that make these...
In his book Breaking the Phalanx, Colonel Douglas A. Macgregor raises important questions as to the future role of land power in the national strategy of the United States. Despite directing much of his discussion toward current Army corps/division...
The post-Cold War era has posed new priorities to the United States Navy. The absence of a naval threat capable of challenging the Navy for control of the seas has allowed the Navy to refocus its efforts to littoral operations. A majority of the...
This monograph examines the U.S. Navy's proposed arsenal ship and its potential for support to land forces operating in littoral regions. The undisputed platform of choice for naval surface fire support was the now deactivated Iowa class...
The surface warfare community prides itself on having the most capable, best trained, and most proficient leaders at the Department Head (DH) level. This assumption stems from an age when the "Head of Department" was a seasoned, matriculated, and...
This monograph studies the challenges facing the U.S. Navy in 2009. It is principally an historical study that attempts to draw a parallel between today's strategic environment and past environments. The historical analysis focuses on past maritime...
On 7 December 1941, the US Navy had 343 warships in commission; however, a “second” fleet, consisting of 344 warships, was in various stages of construction in shipyards across the country. Given that building a warship could take anywhere from...
In a surprise move during the summer of 1955 the Secretary of the Navy selected Rear Admiral Arleigh Burke over 92 more senior admirals to become the Navy’s next Chief of Naval Operations. The junior admiral went on to serve an unprecedented...
During the Civil War, there were no joint commands with all service components unified under the same commander, with few exceptions. Instead, the command and control structure was based on close cooperation between the services, which was termed...
In two periods of the twentieth century strategic bombers and aircraft carriers have come into direct conflict. The underlying themes of the rise and fall of nuclear warfare and incompatible service culture dominate the rivalry between the Air...
Maneuver in land warfare has been the subject of much study in modern times. The U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps in particular have devoted considerable emphasis to the examination of maneuver, as evidenced by the volumes of material produced on...
This paper examines the threat modern diesel submarines pose to successful joint power projection from the sea. America's force projection strategy requires littoral battlespace dominance by naval forces to give joint commanders the freedom of...
This monograph assesses the adequacy of current United States joint campaign planning doctrine within the context of conventional operations between similar forces within a theater of war. The study focuses on five key doctrinal planning concepts...
The lack of a successful Standardization Program for Hull, Mechanical, and Electrical (HM&E) equipment and components of ships in the surface force costs the United States Navy hundreds of millions of dollars annually. Approximately half of the...
U.S. national security depends in part on the Nation's ability to respond effectively to disasters, both at home and abroad. Recent responses have relied heavily on airlift, commercial and military, and U.S. Navy surface combatants. The per-ton...
By 1863, the Civil War was basically a stalemate between the two belligerents. Though the Union forces had achieved some success in conducting joint expeditions that resulted in securing the Mississippi River and the majority of the Southern ports,...