ANAers!! 

We had a great meeting at the Symposium ’08 at the National Museum of Naval Aviation, Pensacola earlier this month.  While our numbers were small, the dialogue was good and a number of good ideas were raised as a result.  Watch the next WINGS OF GOLD for a report of the Symposium Flag Panel and the next BULLHORN for the report of our membership meeting. 

STATUS OF THE NAVY

We were posting the Status of the Navy on our web site every week.  Some members asked that it be posted more frequently.  So, we have changed the web site by adding a hyperlink to the Navy web site – stop by our web site at http://www.anahq.org/forces/index.htm, then clisk on the link to Status of the Navy for the most current information.  If the Navy page does not display the current information (it is not updated over weekends, holidays, etc), refresh your browser. 

RETURN ENVELOPES and MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS

We continue to receive membership renewal forms and payments by persons using the contribution return envelopes.  Please do NOT use the donation returns – the mailing addresses for the two efforts are quite different.

A number of members have complained that membership billing notices have not included a return, self-addressed envelope.  That problem has been fixed – from now on, all first notices will include such an envelope.

 

LOST AND FOUND

We continue to work on our membership rolls – as a part of that, we continue the search for lost members.  MANY thanks to those who have recently responded to LOST and FOUND and helped us resolve the status of missing members.

Name           Full Name                                                         Last Known Address

Atwood        Mr. Wallace Atwood                                        Wittmann, AZ

Baxter          LT William M. Baxter, USN                            Honolulu, HI

Brooks         Mrs. Charles L. Brooks                                   New Orleans, LA

Burns           CAPT Richard H. Burns, USN (Ret)            San Diego, CA

Burns           CAPT David M. Burns, USN (Ret)                Camden, ME

Burns           Capt John A. Burns, USN (Ret)                    Warren, ME

Convery       LT James J. Convery, III  USN                      VF-151

Conway       CDR Michael Ray Conway, USN                 San Diego

Dundas       CDR Geoffrey W. Dundas, USN                  Kaneohe, HI

Heron           CDR Paul J. Heron, USN (Ret)                     Camarillo, CA

Hyland         LCDR Joel Hyland, USN (Ret)                      Port Orange, FL

Kellett           CDR John Kellett, USN (Ret)                        Kaneohe Bay, HI

Lanham       Dr John Lanham                                             Muskego, WI

Lasker          CDR Lawrence J. Lasker, USN(Ret)           Hawaii

Lutche         CDR Michael W. Lutche, USN                       Kailua, HI

Lynham       CDR Donald M. Lynham, USN (Ret)             Indiana

McDaniel     CDR Ronald A. McDaniel, USN                   HC-4, FPO

Miller            Mr. Marvin Miller                                              Tampa, FL

Moreschi     LTJG John R. Moreschi, Jr, USN                  Jacksonville, FL

Niedermair  LCDR Joseph Niedermair, USN                   New Orleans, LA

Peterson      Mr. Bruce Peterson                                         Zephyrhills, FL

Phelps         Mr. Christopher Phelps                                  Kapolei, HI

Porter           COL Robert B. Porter, USMC (Ret)              Fresno, CA

Shurtleff      CAPT W. H. Shurtleff, USN (Ret)                    Ewa Beach, HI

Sorensen    Ms Mary Sorensen                                          Tucson, AZ

Vasquez      CAPT Guillerma A Vasquez, MC, USN (Ret)      FPO

Weisheit      MAJ Bowen P. Weisheit, USMC (Ret)         Bel Air, MD

Wilson         Mr. Michael P. Wilson                                     Honolulu, HI

2008 POSTURE STATEMENT OF

HONORABLE DONALD C. WINTER

SECRETARY OF THE NAVY

 The Secretary of the Navy’s FY 2009 Posture Statement

The Navy and Marine Corps Team…fighting today and preparing for future challenges

I. Introduction

Chairman Skelton, Congressman Hunter and Members of the Committee, it is an honor to appear again before you representing the men and women of the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps—active, reserve, and civilian—a force of over 800,000 strong.

I am here to present the Department of the Navy’s (DON) plan to support our Sailors and Marines in their mission to defend our Nation against current and future challenges as they conduct operations spanning the spectrum, from major combat to humanitarian assistance. The President’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2009 Budget will assist the Navy and Marine Corps in accomplishing their complimentary and reinforcing missions, while building capabilities necessary to meet future threats. The FY 2009 budget balances capabilities to support both traditional and irregular warfare demands. It also continues to expand the Marine Corps’ capacity and furthers the transformation from a blue water navy into one that can fight and win in the blue, green, and brown waters.

As I reflect upon my time as Secretary of the Navy, nothing is more sobering than the experience of seeing—every single day—the dedication, professionalism, and willingness to sacrifice shown by our Sailors, Marines, civilian employees, and their families. I will attest to you their unwavering commitment to duty. These patriots put themselves in harm’s way to protect our Nation. From those who have given the ultimate sacrifice, such as Medal of Honor recipients Lieutenant Michael Murphy and Corporal Jason Dunham, to those who daily take the pledge to support and defend our Nation, our Navy and Marine Corps Team is second to none. It is because of their efforts that we are making progress fostering maritime security, defeating terrorist networks, progressing towards a stable Iraq, supporting the Afghan government, countering piracy and the proliferation of deadly technology, giving humanitarian assistance to people in need after Tsunamis and earthquakes, and strengthening partnerships around the world. The men and women of the Navy and Marine Corps have responded when called upon. It is an honor and privilege to work with them and support them as their Secretary.

Today our Nation is faced with a myriad of challenges and uncertainties across the globe. There have been several unexpected, and sometimes sudden, changes in the security environment over the past few years. Yet many of the strategic imperatives of the United States—particularly with respect to the maritime environment—remain unchanged. It is clear the United States must have the capacity to act in such a fluid and unpredictable environment, and that Naval forces offer unique flexibility to respond swiftly and decisively anywhere in the world. Providing this flexibility requires that the Department of the Navy invest wisely across a wide range of capabilities, and that we take care to deliver a balanced portfolio of capabilities to the Joint force.

Worldwide presence, credible deterrence and dissuasion, projection of power from naval platforms anywhere on the globe, and the ability to prevail at sea are the critical, most fundamental elements of the Navy and Marine Corps strategic posture; these are our indispensable contributions to the joint warfighting capability of the Nation.

The United States is a maritime power, bounded by sea to the east and west. The health of our national economy depends on assuring safe transit through the seas—and the maritime dimension of international commerce is ever increasing. Consider that 70 percent of the earth is covered by water, 80 percent of the world’s population lives in close proximity to the coast, and 90 percent of the world’s international commerce is transported via the sea. Given our national interests, and the role we play in the world, it is unsurprising that our Sailors and Marines are constantly called upon to react to a wide range of challenges. I suggest that the strength of a nation’s naval force remains an essential measure of that nation’s status and role in the world. I also submit that maritime dominance by the United States remains vital to our national security, to our position in the world, and to our ability to defend and promote our interests.

Last fall, the Department of the Navy, in collaboration with the U.S. Coast Guard, reaffirmed its emphasis on the traditional capabilities of forward presence, deterrence, sea control, and power projection in its new Maritime Strategy: A Cooperative Strategy for 21^st Century Seapower. However, the Maritime Strategy also makes clear that we consider our core capabilities to include maritime security and the provision of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief—areas of growing importance. The strategy emphasizes the use of soft power, and highlights the criticality of our foreign friends and allies, while reminding us that the underlying credibility for partnerships and peace is the United States’ ability to swiftly defeat a threat with overwhelming and decisive combat power.

The unique nature of our Department is such that the Navy and Marine Corps team is a constantly deployed force, both in peacetime and in war, with the further ability to surge assets worldwide, anytime required. As we consider the current and projected strategic environment, we must anticipate a steadily growing reliance on our unique expeditionary character. This is becoming ever more apparent. The challenge of resourcing our two services across such a large range of steadily growing global missions, from partnership building to combat operations, is one that we have met with the President’s FY 2009 Budget.

Reflected in the Budget submittal is the fact that today’s Navy and Marine Corps are operating in blue, green and brown waters, in the air and on the shore—and sometimes deep inland—facing a wide variety of threats. On any given day, approximately 40 percent of the fleet is deployed at sea or involved in pre-deployment training. Forward deployed carrier and expeditionary strike groups operate on the high seas, unencumbered by constraints facing land-based forces. They are providing our combatant commanders with many important and powerful combinations of capability: tactical aviation, land attack systems, SEAL and Marine special operations forces (SOF), intelligence and surveillance platforms, amphibious assault and forcible entry capacity, over-the-horizon force projection, and flexible seabasing and at sea logistical support. Our full spectrum of capabilities also includes ship-based ballistic missile defense—providing a shield that not only protects our maritime freedom of movement and access, but which also contributes to the defense of our allies and our homeland against missile threats. In other words, we are presenting a budget which supports a force in high demand across the globe.

The President’s Budget does more than just fulfill our responsibilities in today’s complex environment; it continues to evolve our portfolio of capabilities. This is essential to our ability to defend against future threats which could range from the asymmetric—from terrorists to proliferation and/or use of weapons of mass destruction—to the more traditional challenges posed by nation-states and possible future “near peer” competitors.

Evolving our portfolio of capabilities can be challenging, since the Navy and Marine Corps have an operational construct that emphasizes forward deployment and presence. Historically, while the bulk of U.S. forces return home after cessation of a conflict or crisis, our maritime forces often do not. They are continuously present in forward regions, and through their forward engagement they maintain familiarity with the environment and the characteristics of regional actors; they also foster and sustain trust and cooperation with friends and allies. Thus when a threat to our national security emerges overseas, it may well be encountered first by the Navy and Marine Corps. Meeting that threat, whether on land, in the air, on the high seas, or under the sea, will require our forces to be in peak fighting condition. They must be ready to fight and win at any time, and to do so at great strategic distance. We have developed a budgetary plan which addresses these requirements.

We have developed the budget in the face of a demanding and rapidly changing security environment, and there are worrisome trends that bear watching. Nations are developing weapons and systems which seem deliberately intended to threaten our Naval assets, deny access, and restrict our freedom of maneuver. The proliferation of anti-access weapons technology to unfriendly nations is a significant concern. Furthermore, the Department of the Navy, like other parts of the Department of Defense (DoD), has been a target of aggressive foreign intelligence and data-collection activities. As such, we need to invest in the capabilities necessary to preserve our technological advantage. Additionally, aside from growing costs and schedule delays in some acquisition programs, we also struggle with regulatory encroachment and legal challenges that threaten to undercut our ability to effectively train and maintain readiness. We must address these challenges; doing so is fundamental to maintaining our Naval readiness and our capability to defend our Nation.

In summary, the Department of the Navy’s FY 2009 budget invests in the Navy and Marine Corps to operate, sustain and develop forces that will remain engaged in the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), while at the same time preparing the force for the challenges and threats of the future. The FY 2009 budget requests $149.3 billion for these purposes. This is a 7 percent increase over the FY 2008 baseline and is driven by factors such as rising oil costs and the critical, comprehensive growth of the United States Marine Corps.

Priorities for the Department of the Navy

The Department of the Navy is committed to finding solutions that allow the Navy and Marine Corps to balance our current requirements and operational realities with the likely needs of the future. We strive to maintain an agile and flexible force that can not only contribute to winning our Nation’s wars but also can assist in preventing future conflict to the extent possible—whether by dissuasion, deterrence, humanitarian action or disaster relief. As such, our priorities remain consistent with those in previous years. They are to:

            • Prevail in the GWOT;

            • Take care of our Sailors, Marines, their Families and particularly our wounded; and

            • Prepare for future challenges across the full spectrum of operations.

 

As in the past, for the sake of brevity, some of the key programs are highlighted and can be found in greater detail in the Highlights of the Department of the Navy FY 2009 Budget.1 This statement is designed to reinforce, and build upon, initiatives articulated in previous testimony and budget material.

II. Prevail in the Global War on Terrorism

The Department’s top priority remains the Global War on Terrorism. Today, approximately 29,300 Marines and 11,300 Sailors (including individual augmentees) operate ashore, along with 12,000 Sailors at sea. They are conducting and supporting operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and throughout the U.S. Central Command region, and their contributions are central to the progress being made.

Naval forces provide a major part of the national worldwide rotational presence and an increasing portion of the required support for ground units in OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM (OEF) and OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM (OIF). They operate across the spectrum—from low intensity conflict, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, to high intensity conflict involving airborne strike and Marine Corps forces in coordinated joint and coalition ground operations. To illustrate the wide range of activities undertaken, it is noteworthy that, in 2007, five Carrier Strike Groups and five Expeditionary Strike Groups deployed in support of OEF and OIF. Throughout 2007 the Marine Corps provided three embarked Marine Expeditionary Units (MEUs) forward positioned in all geographic commands. Two of these MEUs were employed ashore in support of Multi-National Force-West and participated in sustained combat operations. Naval aviation, afloat and ashore, in concert with U.S. Air Force and coalition aviation forces, has provided critical strike, overland surveillance, logistical and electronic warfare support to the joint land forces deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Navy has also deployed riverine forces for the first time since Vietnam, operating on Lake Thar Thar and the Euphrates River. The Marine Corps also achieved a milestone with successful deployment of the first MV-22 Osprey squadron in OIF operations. Naval Special Warfare (NSW) forces continue to be actively engaged in combating terrorism. The Navy SEALs and the Marine Special Operations Command have done outstanding work in OIF/OEF and have made critical progress in countering the threat of international terrorism. We will continue to prioritize investment and retention of our highly skilled special operations forces.

In addition to traditional types of maritime activities, the Navy continues to support the GWOT in a variety of non–traditional areas. For example, Navy Sailors are leading a number of

¹ Highlights of the Department of the Navy FY 2009 Budget, February 2008.

Provincial Reconstruction Teams in Afghanistan today. Significant numbers of Naval combat support and combat service support personnel are relieving the Army and Marine Corps in select mission areas. In U.S. Central Command, Navy personnel are providing base and port operations support, medical, explosive ordinance disposal, construction battalions, civil affairs, electronic warfare, mobile security forces, detainee operations, intelligence, and headquarters staff support. The Navy also continues command of the detainee mission in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and at Camp Bucca, a high security prison in Iraq. Executive agent responsibilities are discharged by the Navy for the GWOT-related Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa (CJTF HOA) in Djibouti. CJTF HOA has transformed from its initial seafaring force, aimed at blocking terrorists fleeing Afghanistan (and preventing them from establishing new safe havens), into a task force that also conducts military-to-military training and humanitarian assistance over a large geographic expanse of eight countries.

With respect to the Marine Corps, the II Marine Expeditionary Force Forward, augmented by Marines from around the Corps, conducted counterinsurgency operations in Iraq and led the Multi-National Force-West in Al Anbar Province, supported by Army, Air Force, and Navy personnel. The achievements of the Marines in Al Anbar have been widely noted, and their success in creating a permissive environment for local governance and economic development—making significant inroads in security, training, and transfer of responsibility to their Iraqi counterparts—has been crucial. More broadly across the country, Marine Corps Transition Teams have conducted training for Iraqi military, police and border teams. The Marine Corps provided over 800 personnel across more than 50 types of Iraqi transition teams in 2007. Building upon these successes in Iraq, recently the President approved the deployment of 2,200 Marines to Afghanistan in support of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force mission, and 1,000 Marines to assist in the training and development of the Afghan National Security Forces. In preparation for these overseas missions, the Marine Corps continues to implement comprehensive training programs at home, such as Mojave Viper and Desert Talon.

At sea, the effective conduct of Maritime Security Operations is a critical element of the fight against terrorism. In the Northern Arabian Gulf, our Sailors and Marines are working with Coalition and Iraqi forces in a Coalition Task Group to defend the Al Basra Oil Terminal and the Khawr al Amaya Oil Terminal. The security of these platforms is provided through waterborne patrols in Rigid Hull Inflatable Boats, platform security personnel, and helicopter surveillance. Working with our NATO Allies, the Navy continues to provide support for OPERATION ACTIVE ENDEAVOR, which is an ongoing maritime interdiction effort in the Mediterranean. Similarly, the conduct of operations to dissuade and counter piracy off the West African coast and the actions of the guided missile destroyers USS PORTER, USS ARLEIGH BURKE and USS JAMES E. WILLIAMS off the coast of Somalia this past October are examples of how the Navy is working to provide a secure maritime environment.

Fostering enduring foreign partnerships and friendships is yet another key contributor to the GWOT, as we bolster the capacity of nations to work with us, and to conduct counter-terrorism efforts of their own. The Navy is continuing to develop the concept of Global Fleet Station (GFS), envisioned to be a highly visible, positively engaged, reassuring, and persistent sea base from which to interact with the global maritime community of nations. The Department demonstrated the concept through the GFS pilot in October, using the HSV-2 SWIFT in the  ² Illustrative of our global security cooperation are exercises involving the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force and the Indian Navy during TRILAX 07 in the Northern Pacific; PHOENIX EXPRESS 07 with Moroccan, Algerian, and Tunisian forces west of the Gibraltar Strait; BALTOPS 07 in the Baltic Sea with Denmark, France, Germany, Sweden, Poland, Russia, Latvia, Lithuania, the United Kingdom, and NATO; AMAN 07 with Pakistan, Great Britain, China, France, Italy, Malaysia, Turkey, and Bangladesh; UNITAS off of South America’s Pacific coast with Chile, Colombia, and Peru; and MALABAR with forces from India.

Caribbean, and again with the African Partnership Station in the Gulf of Guinea, using the USS FORT MCHENRY and HSV-2 SWIFT. In addition to targeted outreach activities, the Navy and Marine Corps team extends America’s diplomatic reach through the conduct of multinational exercises and port visits. Throughout 2007, the Naval force participated in over 230 bilateral and multinational exercises with partners around the globe.2 The Marine Corps also participated in over sixty Theater Security Cooperation events, which ranged from deployment of small Mobile Training Teams in Central America to MEU exercises in Africa, the Middle East, and the Pacific. Additionally, several overseas training events were held with foreign special operations forces to improve interoperability with Navy and Marine SOF, and the Department provided support to the stand-up of NATO’s new SOF Coordination Center. The cumulative effect of these exercises and events is to foster trust and sustain cooperative relationships with our international partners. This is critical to U.S. national security.

Outreach to foreign populations is also an important part of the Nation’s efforts to stem the spread of terrorism. This is an important mission for the Navy and the Marine Corps and is a tangible way that we can demonstrate the compassion and values of the American people. Last year, the Navy and Marine Corps together were at the forefront of numerous humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations. Sailors and Marines in the Pacific provided desperately-needed humanitarian support to Bangladesh in the aftermath of Cyclone Sidr. The Marine Corps engaged in civil-military and humanitarian assistance operations such as “New Horizons” in Nicaragua and land mine removal training in Azerbaijan. The joint and combined crew aboard the USNS COMFORT gave humanitarian aid during a four month tour in Latin America and the Caribbean. During Pacific Partnership 2007, the joint and interagency crew of the USS PELELIU gave similar aid to the Philippines and other Pacific island nations. We hope that the support given during these missions, whether it was the Seabees’ reconstruction of homes and schools devastated by a tsunami, or inoculation and treatment of children and the elderly by Navy and Marine medical professionals, helped convey a positive image of the United States with local populations.

Finally, within the United States, the Department continues its emphasis on providing increased force protection to our Sailors and Marines, particularly in the area of counter-improvised explosive devices (IED). As lead service for the joint Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle program, the Department accelerated production for MRAP vehicles to rapidly field this capability in Iraq and Afghanistan. Through the use of Lean Six Sigma activities and projects, the Department synchronized an effort to build and transport MRAP vehicles to the theater, rapidly identifying and mitigating deficiencies in the MRAP vehicle pipeline. Over 2,000 MRAP vehicles have been fielded to support the Department’s joint urgent requirement, over 900 of which are in the hands of Marines and more than 150 fielded to the Navy. Also as part of the broader counter-IED effort, the Department is procuring Biometric Tools, the Family of Imaging Systems, counter-IED robotics, and Counter Radio-Controlled IED Electronic Warfare systems.

Adapting the Naval Force for GWOT and Future Missions

The Marine Corps and Navy are being called upon today to conduct surge operations, conduct Iraq unit rotations, provide additional forces to Afghanistan, and prepare for other challenges. The Department has not only addressed these commitments, but is contributing low supply, high demand forces (e.g., Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) units) to support the other services and coalition efforts. Of our deployed EOD teams, over 50 percent operate in support of other services. Additionally, over the course of 2007, the Navy provided 12,985 Active Component Augmentees and 9,527 Mobilized Reservists in support of OEF and OIF globally, and filled approximately 8,000 Individual Augmentee and 4,500 “in-lieu-of" requirements. The Navy has increased several low density, high demand specialties and units, such as Construction Battalions and EOD teams. In October 2007, the Navy commissioned its newest Construction Battalion and Construction Regiment, bringing them to a total of 9 active duty battalions and 3 active duty regiments. Further, in order to relieve stress on Marines and their families, and to address future contingencies, the Marine Corps is growing the force, exceeding its 2007 target of 184,000 Marines; the Marine Corps is on track to meet the goal of 202,000 by FY 2011.

Reshaping of the force is an important and evolutionary process. To do this, the Department is focused on three fronts: recruiting the right people, retaining the right people, and achieving targeted attrition. Recruiting objectives are focused on increasing the quality of the Total Force and seeking qualified Sailors to include special emphasis on filling the ranks of SEAL, NSW, Navy Special Operations, Special Warfare Combatant-Craft Crewmen, EOD, Divers, Hospital Corpsmen, and Women in Non-traditional Ratings (Master-at-Arms and Seabees). Recruiters are also focused on creating a smooth flow of recruits into boot camp by maintaining and mentoring a healthy pool of young men and women in the Delayed Entry Program.

The Department has also implemented initiatives to increase visibility and incentives for medical recruitment. While we have seen improvement in some medical programs, such as in the Nurse Corps with direct accessions, numerous challenges remain in recruiting and retaining medical personnel. Retention challenges exist in critical specialties that require 3-7 years of training beyond medical school. In the Dental Corps, we face challenges in retaining junior officers between 4-7 years, and we also are experiencing high attrition rates for junior officer ranks in the Nurse Corps. To combat the recruiting challenges and continue supporting the increased demand for the OIF/OEF, we implemented increased accession bonuses for the Nurse Corps and Dental Corps; funded a critical skills accession bonus for medical and dental school Health Professions Scholarship Program (HPSP) participants; increased the stipend for HPSP students, as well as Financial Assistance Program participants; expanded the critical skills wartime specialty pay for reserve component medical designators; recently implemented a Critical Wartime Skills Accession bonus for Medical and Dental Corps; and implemented a Critical Skills Retention bonus for clinical psychologists.

We note that the FY 2008 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) restricts military to civilian conversions for the medical community through September 30, 2012. Due to the date of enactment of this legislation, it is not reflected in the FY 2009 President’s Budget request, but the plan is now being readdressed. Resolution will require careful planning, and we are working closely with the Office of the Secretary of Defense on this matter.

Incentive programs were a key component of our enlisted recruiting success in 2007. The enlistment bonus continues to be our most popular and effective incentive for shaping our accessions. The authority to pay a bonus up to $40,000 made a significant contribution to our Navy Special Warfare and Navy Special Operations recruiting efforts. Likewise, our Reserve Component success would not have been possible without the availability of enlistment bonuses. Extended incentive authorities towards some of our more specialized skill fields, including nuclear and aviation, will help to recruit and retain these critical skill sets, while renewal of accession bonuses will help to expand the force to newly mandated levels. The continued support of Congress in the creation of flexible compensation authorities affords the Department the tools that will help shape the force for the 21^st Century.

The Grow the Force mandate by the President is a long-term plan to restore the broad range of capabilities necessary to meet future challenges and mitigate global risk to national security of the United States. The Marine Corps will grow the force by 27,000 (from 175K to 202K) Marines over five years. This additional capacity and capability will enable full spectrum military operations in support of allies and partners as well as against potential enemies. In 2007, the Marine Corps added two infantry battalions, capacity to the combat engineer battalions and air naval gunfire liaison companies, and planned the training and infrastructure pieces necessary to build a balanced warfighting capability. The Marine Corps has achieved success in recruiting and maintaining quality standards. This is a remarkable achievement for an all volunteer force during a sustained war. The Marine Corps anticipates continued success in meeting recruiting and retention goals to achieve this planned force level. This end strength increase addresses more than current operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. It ensures that the Marine Corps will be able to deal with the challenges of the Long War and will reduce combat stress on Marines and their families by moving towards a 1:2 deployment to dwell ratio. Currently many Marines are on a 1:1 or less deployment to dwell ratio.

Navy and Marine Corps Reserves continue to be vital to successfully fighting the GWOT and in accomplishing routine military operations. The Marine Corps and Navy activated, respectively, 5,505 and 5,007 reservists to fulfill critical billets in OIF and other gaps in headquarters and operational units. At the close of FY 2007, the Navy and Marine Corps Reserves end strength was 69,933 and 38,557 respectively.

Readiness

The Department’s budget reflects a commitment to properly price and fund readiness to meet the demands of the Combatant Commands. For FY 2009, the Fleet Response Plan (FRP) is funded to achieve “6+1”—the ability to support deployment of six carrier strike groups within 30 days and one additional group within 90 days. Additionally, the FY 2009 budget funds 45 underway steaming days per quarter for deployed forces and 22 underway days per quarter for non-deployed forces. For the Marine Corps, equipment readiness accounts are focused on supporting the operational and equipment readiness of units engaged in operations in OIF. The Marine Corps has made tradeoffs in this area by cross-leveling equipment from units not in the fight, and while the force made great strides in its overall readiness to conduct counterinsurgency operations, this has been achieved at the expense of other traditional training, such as amphibious assault and jungle warfare.

Carrier Waiver. The Navy is committed to maintaining an aircraft carrier force of 11. However, during the 33-month period between the planned 2012 decommissioning of USS ENTERPRISE and the 2015 delivery of the USS GERALD R. FORD, legislative relief is requested to temporarily reduce the carrier force to ten. Extending ENTERPRISE to 2015 would involve significant technical risk, challenge our manpower and industrial bases, and require significant resource expenditure; with only minor gain for the warfighter in carrier operational availability and significant opportunity costs in force structure and readiness. The Navy is adjusting carrier maintenance schedules to meet the FRP and ensure a responsive carrier force for the Nation during this proposed ten carrier period.

Law of the Sea Convention. It is critically important to the United States and our friends and allies that the seas of the world remain safe and open for all nations. Accordingly, the Department of the Navy supports U.S. accession to the Law of the Sea Convention. The Treaty codifies important principles of customary international law, such as Freedom of Navigation and rights of passage. Joining the Convention, with the declarations and understandings reflected in Senate Report 110-9 (Senate Foreign Relations Committee), will assist the United States to exercise its leadership role in the future development of open oceans law and policy. As a non-party, the United States does not have full access to the Convention’s formal processes (through which over 150 nations participate in influencing future law of the sea developments). By providing legal certainty and stability for the world’s largest maneuver space, the Convention furthers a core goal of our National Security Strategy to promote the rule of law around the world.

Suppression of Unlawful Acts (SUA). The Department supports expeditious U.S. ratification of the 2005 Protocol of the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Maritime Navigation and the 2005 Protocol to the 1988 Protocol for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Fixed Platforms Located on the Continental Shelf ("SUA Amendments"), adopted by the International Maritime Organization on October 14, 2005, and signed by the United States on February 17, 2006. The SUA Amendments significantly strengthen the legal regime to criminalize terrorist acts and combat weapons of mass destruction proliferation in the maritime domain making them an important component in the international campaign to prevent and punish such acts.

Encroachment. A critical readiness issue is our ability to be prepared to meet the full spectrum of operations that may arise globally. This requires that we have the ability to properly train our sons and daughters in a manner that effectively prepares them for the threats they may encounter. In order for Naval forces to be able to meet our operational commitments we need installations and ranges, the ability to continue to use them for their intended purposes, and the ability to augment them when necessary to respond to changing national defense requirements and circumstances.

We appreciate the action taken by Congress to recognize the importance of protecting Naval installations from encroachment pressures by enacting section 2863 of the FY 2007 National Defense Authorization Act that establishes prohibitions against making certain military airfields or facilities, including Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, available for use by civil aircraft. We seek your continued support to move forward with plans for the Outlying Landing Field (OLF) that is critically needed to support training requirements for Carrier Air Wing aircraft based at Naval Air Station Oceana and Naval Station Norfolk. The OLF will directly support the Department's ability to meet its national defense commitments under the FRP and provide naval aviators critical training in conditions most comparable to the at-sea operating environment they will face. In response to public comments regarding the previous site alternatives, the Navy has terminated the draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and will initiate a new EIS that examines five new site alternatives, three in Virginia and two in North Carolina, based upon new information provided by officials in those states. I ask for your continued support as we work with the Congress and the States of Virginia and North Carolina to preserve and improve the installation and range capabilities needed to properly train our young men and women before we send them into harms way.

Marine Mammals and Active Sonar. The most critical readiness issue relates to the Navy’s ability to train using active sonar while minimizing the effect on marine mammals. One of the most challenging threats that our Naval forces face is modern, quiet diesel-electric submarines. These submarines employ state-of-the-art silencing technologies and other advances, such as special hull treatments, that make them almost undetectable with passive sonar and also reduce their vulnerability to detection with active sonar. A diesel-electric submarine so equipped can covertly operate in coastal and open ocean areas, blocking Navy access to combat zones and increasing United States vessels’ vulnerability to torpedo and anti-ship missile attacks. Currently, over 40 countries operate more than 300 diesel-electric submarines worldwide, including potential adversaries in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East areas. Naval strike groups are continuously deployed to these high-threat areas. Training with the use of mid-frequency active (MFA) sonar is a vital component of pre-deployment training. The tactical use of MFA sonar is the best means of detecting potentially hostile, quiet, diesel-electric submarines. The inability to train effectively with active sonar literally puts the lives of thousands of Americans at risk.

In January 2008, a federal district court issued an injunction precluding the Navy’s ability to train effectively with MFA in critical exercises scheduled to occur in the Southern California Operating Area through January 2009, creating an unacceptable risk that strike groups may not be certified for deployment in support of world-wide operational and combat activities. Because the Composite Unit Training Exercises and the Joint Task Force Exercises off Southern California are critical to the ability to deploy strike groups ready for combat, the President concluded that continuing to train with MFA in these exercises is in the paramount interest of the United States and granted a temporary exemption from the requirements of the Coastal Zone Management Act for use of MFA sonar in these exercises through January 2009. Additionally, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) concluded that the risk that strike groups might not be certified constituted an emergency circumstance requiring alternative National Environmental Policy Act arrangements. These alternative arrangements were accepted by the Navy. Despite these developments, the trial court refused to set aside the injunction. As a result the Navy appealed the court’s refusal to give effect to the President’s and CEQ’s actions by dissolving the injunction and the court’s failure to properly tailor the injunction in the first place to allow the Navy to train effectively. On February 29, the Ninth Circuit upheld the trial court. Acknowledging the Chief of Naval Operations’ (CNO's) concern that the injunction issued by the trial court in its current form will "unacceptably risk" effective training and strike group certification, however, the Ninth Circuit also temporarily and partially stayed several features of the injunction. This temporary and partial stay should allow us to complete two training exercises this month, which are critical to preparing two strike groups for deployment.

The Department continues to be a good steward of the environment, while providing the necessary training that is essential to national security and ensures the safety of our people. The Department is engaged in a comprehensive effort to ensure compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act, Endangered Species Act, Coastal Zone Management Act, National Marine Sanctuaries Act, and Executive Order 12114. Twelve EISs are in development with associated Records of Decision (ROD) scheduled for issuance by the end of calendar year 2009. The Navy implements twenty-nine protective measures developed in conjunction with the National Marine Fisheries Service, the Federal regulator responsible for oversight and implementation of the Marine Mammal Protection Act. These measures afford significant protection to marine mammals while maintaining training fidelity. The Navy has steadily increased funding for marine mammal research from $12.5 million in FY 2004 to $22 million in FY 2009. The Navy's financial commitment constitutes more that half of the world-wide funding for research on the effects of anthropogenic sound on marine mammals. Over the past several years, tremendous progress has been made in expanding the scientific base of knowledge, especially concerning the species identified as the most sensitive to mid-frequency active sonar, deep diving beaked whales. The Navy, working with the National Marine Fisheries Service, is engaged in a three-year controlled exposure study of sound on whales at the Navy’s Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center in the Bahamas. This study, along with other research, development, test and evaluation efforts, will provide further information needed to understand and effectively mitigate the effects of active sonar on marine mammals.

III. Take Care of Our People

In 2007 the Department implemented a Human Capital Strategy that focuses on our most valuable asset, the Department’s people. In the strategy, the Department addresses the changes in warfare, workforce, technologies, and processes and lays out the strategic objective to produce and employ the right people with the right skills to support or accomplish 21^st Century Naval missions. The development and retention of quality people is vital to our continued success. The Department of the Navy is committed to sustaining quality of service and quality of life programs, including training, compensation, promotion opportunities, health care, housing, and reasonable operational and personnel tempo. The cost of manpower is the single greatest component in the FY 2009 budget. The FY 2009 budget requests $41.6 billion for Military Personnel and includes a 3.4 percent Military Personnel pay raise. This investment is critical to ensuring a Naval force with the highest levels of ability and character.

Comprehensive Care. As Secretary of Defense Gates has stated, “Apart from the war itself, we have no higher priority (than to take care of our Wounded, Ill, and Injured).” Over the sustained combat operations in the GWOT, the Department has endured the loss of over 830 Marines and 75 Sailors killed in action, and over 8,500 Marines and 600 Sailors wounded in action. These Marines and Sailors and their survivors deserve the highest priority care, respect and treatment for their sacrifices. We must ensure our wounded warriors and families receive the appropriate care, training and financial support they need. Failing them will undermine the trust and confidence of the American people. Consequently, the Department of the Navy initiated a Comprehensive Casualty Care effort in March 2007 to ensure visibility of the full range of needs of service members and their family members and the coordination and expedient delivery of clinical and non-clinical services throughout the continuum of care. Among the initiatives pursued under this effort was a Lean Six Sigma mapping of the casualty care process to identify areas of patient transitions, gaps in service, and unmet needs across key functional service areas to include: Medical, Pay, and Personnel, Family Support, Case Management, Information Technology, and the Disability Evaluation System. The following sections provide some specific examples of the Department’s actions and plans for improving care for our people.

Combat Casualty Care. Navy Medicine provides combat casualty care to Navy and Marine Corps units, on Expeditionary Medical Facilities, aboard casualty receiving/treatment ships and hospital ships, and in military hospitals. Recent advances in force protection, battlefield medicine, combat/operational stress control, and medical evaluation have led to improved survival rates for wounded (approximately 97 percent) and enhanced combat effectiveness. In September 2007 Naval Medical Center San Diego stood-up a Comprehensive Combat Casualty Care Center providing inpatient and outpatient services to all levels of combat casualties, including rehabilitative, mental health and prosthetic care. The unit is the military’s first and only center for amputee care on the West Coast. This year the Marine Corps is reorganizing Medical Battalions and fielding the Family of Field Medical Equipment, modernizing 34 different medical systems such as the Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) scanner and the Airframe First Aid Kit.

Wounded Warrior and Safe Harbor. In FY 2007 the Marine Corps expanded its existing programs by establishing the Wounded Warrior Regiment with a Wounded Warrior Battalion on each coast to provide better continuity of care for wounded warriors. Specifically, these organizations provide wounded warriors a location to recuperate and transition in proximity to family and parent units. The Navy has a number of programs ensuring care for all wounded, ill and injured Sailors and their families. Those severely wounded, ill, and injured Sailors and their families receive non-medical case management and advocacy from the Navy’s Safe Harbor Program. Safe Harbor provides assistance in dealing with personal challenges from the time of injury through return to duty or transition to civilian life.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Specific improvements for post traumatic stress disorder include both preventive and post deployment care. The Marine Corps is employing Operational Stress Control and Readiness teams to provide early intervention, outreach, and prevention at the unit level in close proximity to operational missions, reducing stigma associated with conventional mental health care. The Navy is enhancing the Operational Stress Control Program and is completing phase two of the in-theater Behavioral Health Needs Assessment Survey to identify mental health needs, guide development of appropriate prevention and treatment programs, and ensure adequate in-theater mental health support. To date in FY 2008, Navy Medicine expanded the Deployment Health Clinic (DHC) concept to a total of 17 Centers. These DHCs logged over 30,000 visits encompassing the entire range of post deployment healthcare symptoms. These clinics are designed to be easily accessible, non-stigmatizing portals for effective assessment and treatment of deployment-related mental health issues. Three additional DHCs are planned for 2008. Specialized training is also being provided to the Chaplain Corps and non-mental health medical personnel to include mind, body and spiritual practices. Augmenting the ability to deliver the highest quality of Psychological Healthcare available, Navy Medicine committed $7 million to stand-up a Naval Center for the Study of Combat Stress that will support all of the varied and diverse mental health needs.

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). The Department is engaged in activities to address TBI and remains committed to the further expansion of TBI research and availability of services for our service members. Navy Medical Research Command uses new techniques to identify transmissibility of blast wave energy into the brain, focusing on the nexus between the blast wave energy transmission and the resulting brain pathology. Navy researchers serve on the Health Affairs Senior Executive Advisory Committee on TBI sensor development and coordinate closely with the U.S. Army Program Executive Office in the development of helmet mounted monitors. The National Naval Medical Center’s Traumatic Stress and Brain Injury Program serves blast-exposed or head-injured casualties aero-medically evacuated out of theater. Over 1,082 blast-exposed service members have been evaluated for psychological health and traumatic brain injury. In May 2007, Naval Medical Center San Diego stood up a Traumatic Stress and Brain Injury Program, and in September 2007, Camp Lejeune stood up a similar program.

Physical and Medical Evaluation Boards. The Department refined the physical and medical evaluation board process to ensure timely, comprehensive and transparent actions balancing the rights of the individual and the needs of the service. Actions include upgrading the Council of Review Board website to provide transition services and links to government agencies with post-service benefits. Additional upgrades are underway to provide a portal for members to monitor case processing. The Department is also participating in the joint DoD-VA Disability Evaluation Pilot in the National Capital Region that is designed to further streamline the process and ensure a smooth transition to civilian life for service members leaving active duty.

Family Readiness. The Department remains committed to the readiness and resilience of Navy and Marine Corps families, including the spouses, children, parents, and other extended family members committed to caring for Sailors and Marines. To that end, the Department operationalized family support programs to better empower Sailors and Marines to effectively meet the challenges of today's military lifestyle. The Marine Corps is redesigning and enhancing family readiness programs that most directly prepare Marines and their families, including: Unit Family Readiness Program, Marine Corps Family Team Building Program, Exceptional Family Member Program, School Liaison Program, and Children, Youth and Teen Program. As a companion effort, the Marine Corps will address quality of life deficiencies at remote and isolated installations, expand communication connections between separated Marines and their families, and make needed improvements to quality of life facilities and equipment throughout the Marine Corps. The Navy increased emphasis on prevention, education, and counseling to Navy families undergoing frequent and often short notice deployments. It has created school liaison positions to work with school districts and Navy families to ensure teachers and other school officials understand the pressures and issues facing military children. The Navy provides brief, solution-focused clinical counseling services to more family members, as well as increasing home visitation services to new parents who have been identified as requiring parenting support. To better reach Individual Augmentee families who do not live near a military installation but who have access to a computer, the Navy has begun virtual Individual Augmentee Family Discussion Groups to ensure outreach information, referral and ongoing support.

The Department has developed an aggressive child care expansion plan, adding over 4,000 new child care spaces within the next 18 months. This expansion includes construction of new Child Development Centers (including facilities open 24/7), commercial contracts, and expanding military certified home care. Combined, these initiatives will reduce the waiting time for child care from 6-18 months to less than 3 months. To assist parents and children with the challenges of frequent deployments, an additional 100,000 hours of respite child care will be provided for families of deployed service members. In efforts to combat youth obesity, the Navy has implemented a new world-wide youth fitness initiative called “FitFactor” to increase youth interest and awareness in the importance of healthy choices in life.

National Security Personnel System (NSPS). The Department of the Navy has successfully converted ~30,000 employees into NSPS, with an additional ~30,000 scheduled to convert by 30 October 2008. The DON is already seeing a return on investment: an unprecedented training effort focused on performance management, greater communication between employees and supervisors, people talking about results and mission alignment, and increased flexibility in rewarding exceptional performance. While mindful of new legislative restraints, maintaining key human resource elements of NSPS, including pay-for-performance, is vital to the system's success and the Department's ability to respond to ever-changing national security threats.

Safety. Fundamental to taking care of Sailors, Marines and DON civilian employees is establishing a culture and environment where safety is an intrinsic component of all decision making, both on and off-duty. Safety and risk management are integrated into on and off duty evolutions to maximize mission readiness and to establish DON as a world class safety organization where no mishap is accepted as the cost of doing business.

The Secretary of Defense established a goal to achieve a 75 percent reduction in baseline FY 2002 mishap rates across DoD by the end of FY 2008. In FY 2007 the DON recorded our lowest number of serious operational mishaps and the lowest rate of serious aviation mishaps in our history.

One particular challenge that we continue to face is loss of Sailors and Marines to fatal accidents on our nation's highways—111 in FY 2007. While our rates are actually better than U.S. national statistics, and FY 2007 was one of our best years ever, we find these losses untenable—we can and must do better. In particular, the growing popularity of sport bikes, or high powered racing motorcycles, represents our biggest challenge. We are restructuring our motorcycle training, and in partnership with the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, we have developed a new hands-on Sport Bike Rider Safety Course. We are also implementing methods