Unit Overview / Explain that in broad terms naval operations refers to the day-to-day conduct of all actions involving units of the U.S. fleet in the oceans of the world. Naval operations areas of responsibility include naval activities, naval communications, naval intelligence, naval logistics, and naval research and development. All five of these areas are interrelated to the daily operation of naval units / 1-4
Unit Overview / Explain that the definition of naval communications is the transmission and reception of military instructions and information by sound, electronics, or visual means. Naval intelligence gives government and military leaders the information about potential or actual enemies needed to make good decisions. / 5-6
Unit Overview / Explain that naval logistics provides the means and support for naval operations. Naval research and development ensure that the Navy operates with the latest technology. / 7-8
Key terms - Definitions / Reinforce the correct definition for each key term. / 26-28
Introduction / Explain that the employment and movements of various types of naval ships and other naval forces in carrying out the Navy’s mission is collectively called naval operations. These operations can range from missions carried out by individual combat units, ships, or aircraft, to large-scale evolutions done by an entire fleet. / 32
Introduction / Explain that in his blueprint for the U.S. Navy of the twenty-first century, Sea Power 21, CNO Admiral Vernon Clark stated that henceforth there will be three basic concepts underlying all future naval operations: Sea Strike, Sea Shield, and Sea Basing. Sea Strike is the ability to project offensive power from the sea worldwide, whenever and wherever required. Sea Shield concerns naval operations related to homeland defense, and defense of U.S. and allied sea and land forces and territory abroad. Sea Basing concerns the maintenance of deployed fast response forces sufficient to carry out the Navy’s mission worldwide, and their sustainment from the sea. Clark believed that all of his operational concepts will be tied together and managed by means of an enhanced state-of-the art networked computer-based command and control system. / 33-34
Naval Task Force Organization / Explain that the Navy's operating forces are divided into a number of fleets: Eastern Pacific, Third; Western Pacific, Seventh; Indian Ocean, Fifth; Western Atlantic, Second; and Mediterranean Sea, Sixth. The Navy's fleets are subdivided into task forces, groups, units, and elements. Warships are grouped to achieve the proper balance for specific tactical jobs; this is called the battle group organization. The battle groups, or strike forces, are made up of those ships designed for combat at sea. These are the warships: carriers, surface combatants, and submarines. Other groups comprise the amphibious force, mobile logistic force, and support force. / 35-40
Command and Control Organization / Explain that naval forces are organized for their roles as task-oriented, Navy-Marine Corps teams. Command authority for naval forces, as with all U.S. military forces, starts with the president and extends through the secretary of defense, with advice from the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to the unified or specified commanders. A unified or specified command is a command with a broad, continuing mission under a single commander. A unified command has a geographical area of responsibility, referred to as a theater. A specified command has functional responsibilities, such as for special operations or space. Naval forces are assigned to these unified or specified commands for operations; currently there are no specified commands assigned. / 43-45
Videos 1 and 2 on Command and Control Organization / Show videos on command and control organization. / 46-47
Command and Control Organization / Explain that a commander may establish various support relationships between subordinate commanders when one unit or organization can aid, protect, complement, or sustain another force. A commander normally establishes a support relationship by directing one force (the "supporting force") to provide support to another (the "supported force"). / 48
Command and Control Organization / Explain that in addition to specified command responsibilities, commanders are also normally assigned a staff appropriate to their level of command. The staff assists the commander in carrying out his or her duties by providing specialized expertise and allowing a division of labor. The staff is not part of the chain of command and thus has no authority of its own, although the commander may delegate authority to a staff officer if he or she so chooses. In such cases, the staff officer exercises that authority "by direction" of the commander. / 49
Striking Forces / Explain that a strike is form of power projection meant to damage, seize, or destroy an objective. Types of naval forces used to make strikes are carriers, cruisers, destroyers, and submarines. These ships may operate independently or together. If they operate together, they are called a strike group. Naval striking forces carry out national military policy, in peace or in war. Their presence near a trouble spot may serve as a stabilizing influence. Mobility, one of the greatest assets of naval striking forces, and a constant state of readiness enable them to make surprise attacks from any point on navigable waters. / 50-51
Modern Naval Striking Forces / Explain that today's naval striking forces are built primarily around the carrier, just as in World War II. There are also some striking forces built around cruisers or frigates.
The missions of carrier strike forces are still basically the same today. These are
- To seek out and destroy enemy air, surface, and subsurface forces
- To make pre-invasion strikes against enemy airborne aircraft and airfields
- To provide close air support
- To strike against remote enemy installations
- To protect amphibious forces from enemy attack
Modern Naval Striking Forces / Explain that while many of these missions are in support of amphibious assault forces, the primary mission of the carrier strike groups, as they are called today, is to win command of the seas. To do this, they can make strikes, sweeps, and raids. A carrier strike is an operation planned to destroy an enemy base area or strong point. A series of strikes against several enemy targets in a general area is termed a sweep. A raid is a sudden destructive attack against a limited area or facility, with no intention of holding the territory invaded. / 57
Modern Naval Striking Forces / Explain that the modern carrier strike group (CSG) usually has one carrier along with the necessary escort and support ships. / 58
Video 1 on Modern Naval Striking Forces / Show video 1 on modern Naval Striking Forces. / 59
Modern Naval Striking Forces / Explain that unlike World War II formations, with concentric circles of protective escort ships surrounding the carriers, today's formations are spread over vast expanses of sea, often with the ships out of sight of one another. Dispersion makes it more difficult for an enemy to determine the defense plan, or to target multiple ships in a single attack. Guided-missile ships, radar picket vessels, submarines, fast replenishment ships, and airborne early-warning (AEW) aircraft have been added. / 60
Video 2 on Modern Naval Striking Forces / Show video 2 on modern Naval Striking Forces. / 61
Modern Naval Striking Forces / Explain that protecting the carrier strike group from surprise air attack are the airborne early- warning aircraft and combat air patrol (CAP) fighters. / 62
Video 3 on Modern Naval Striking Forces / Show video 3 on modern Naval Striking Forces. / 63
Modern Naval Striking Forces / Explain that during surface action, aircraft are used for tactical scouting and attacking the enemy to cause damage, destroy, or demoralize enemy forces. Surface action groups (SAGs) may be formed from the surface warships of the CVBG and detached for particular tasks, such as destruction of isolated enemy units, shore bombardment, or scouting missions / 64
Modern Naval Striking Forces / Explain that when surface action occurs, it is usually a series of rapid engagements, often overlapping. Surface warfare ships such as cruisers and destroyers are moved in and out of battle for attack, pursuit, or mopping-up operations. Maneuvers to change from an approach or cruising formation to a battle disposition, or formation, are called deployment of forces. This is a tactical deployment for battle and differs from a normal overseas deployment of ships to the Mediterranean on a cruise, for example. / 65
Modern Naval Striking Forces / Explain that a battle formation is not a precise formation, for each ship must be able to meet its own opposition as it occurs. However they may be arranged, surface warships in a battle formation are usually close enough to each other that some mutual support is possible. Such ships are often referred to as a surface action group (SAG). / 66-67