Naval Operations Concept - Defense Technical Information Center

Naval Operations Concept 2010 6
importantly sea control, which is a necessary condition for the deployment
and sustained employment of any joint or multinational force.
Forward presence is achieved through a combination of forward
stationed and rotationally deployed forces. Forward stationed forces are
homeported overseas, where they conduct all training and most maintenance.
The Navy and Marine Corps often refer to forward stationed
units overseas as forward deployed naval forces (FDNF). The advantage of
forward stationed naval forces is that they maximize continuous presence
with a minimum number of ships. The benefits of forward stationing
cannot be realized without host nation support from allies and friends—
a circumstance that is not taken for granted by the Naval Service and that
merits collaboration to ensure such arrangements are mutually beneficial.
Forward stationed ships may require relief by rotationally deployed forces
when entering shipyards for extended maintenance periods.
Rotationally deployed forces are based in the United States but regularly
deploy overseas to maintain continuous presence in key regions. The
advantage of rotationally deployed forces is that they can be employed
without extensive overseas infrastructure, basing rights, or other host
nation support. The disadvantage is that multiple ships are required in a
training, maintenance, deployment cycle to sustain continuous presence.
With due consideration for maintenance and training requirements, ships
in the rotation may surge for short-duration activities between regularly
scheduled deployments or in response to a crisis. Some forces—such
as hospital ships, repair ships, or tenders—only deploy episodically to
support specific operations.
Rotationally deployed ships complement forward stationed forces at
main operating bases, forward operating sites, and cooperative security
locations. The Naval Service maintains forward stationed personnel and
resources in diverse locations overseas, such as Bahrain, Cuba, Diego
Garcia, Greece, Guam, Italy, Japan, Korea, Norway, Singapore, and Spain.
This global architecture enables economical naval and joint force deployment,
employment and sustainment.
Critical enablers for U.S. forward naval forces are the combat logistics force
ships and support ships operated by the Military Sealift Command (MSC).
The combat logistics force includes the ships and helicopters that resupply