NPG14_CHINFO_Web_7Mar14

FOREWORD
The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps team is the world’s preeminent maritime force
and seapower continues to serve the nation as a powerful instrument of defense
and diplomacy. As America’s “away team” postured forward in places
that count, the sun never sets on our forces. We are ready where it matters,
when it matters to safeguard and advance our national security interests.
Each day we fulfill our longstanding purpose of extending
America’s defense in depth, bolstering global stability that
underpins our country’s economic vitality, and building
trust and confidence through ever-present engagement
with allies and partners. The U.S. Navy’s mix of capabilities,
operating forward in the global commons today
and tomorrow, will give the President ready options to
promptly deal with disruptions that could undermine our
security or economic prosperity. Naval forces will continue
to field and operate a balanced mix of capabilities
to assure access, deter aggression, respond to crises, and
where necessary, decisively win wars.
No matter how uncertain the future may be, or where
conflict may emerge, the U.S. Navy’s roles will not fundamentally
change—they are timeless. Our inherent multimission
flexibility allows us to deal with an unpredictable
and highly transformative world. This adaptability is also
key as we prudently steward taxpayers’ dollars, squeeze out
costs, find efficiencies, and innovate. The U.S. Navy will do
its part to reduce the deficit, but we will do so in a responsible
way, balancing our duty to sustain current readiness
while building an affordable future force able to address
a range of threats, contingencies, and high-consequence
events that could impact our nation’s core interests. This
program guide describes our investments that will deliver
the seapower to do just that.
You can be proud of the Navy we have built and will
continue to evolve. We are putting it to good use and
the nation is getting a high return on its capital investment.
Over the last year, we were on station in the Pacific
to deal with provocative North Korean actions. We
patrolled off the shores of Syria, Libya, Egypt, Somalia, and
Sudan to protect American lives, hunt violent extremists,
and induce regional leaders to make constructive choices
amid widespread disorder. We delivered aid and relieved
suffering in the Philippines in the wake of a devastating
typhoon. We mobilized to restrain coercion against our
allies and friends in the East and South China Seas. We
kept piracy at bay in the Horn of Africa. We projected
long-range combat power from aircraft carriers in the
North Arabian Sea into Afghanistan, and arrayed our
forces to enhance stability in the Arabian Gulf. Across the
Middle East and Africa, we took the fight to insurgents,
terrorists, and their supporting networks by providing
high leverage expeditionary support to Special Operations
Forces. Every day, our people are bringing their knowledge
and equipment to bear against America’s toughest
challenges, and they are making a difference.
We will continue to flow our advanced capabilities forward
where they can be used interdependently with other
joint forces for best effect. Increasingly lethal Coastal
Patrol Combatants are arriving in Bahrain, Ballistic
Missile Defense-capable destroyers are starting to base
out of Rota; versatile Littoral Combat Ships, P-8A aircraft,
and nuclear-powered attack submarines continue deploying
to the Pacific as part of our strategic rebalance; and
a mix of highly configurable expeditionary support ships
like the Mobile Landing Platform, Joint High Speed Vessel,
and Afloat Forward Staging Base are already in, or coming
to, a theater near you.
The sensors, weapons, and tailored force packages—the
“payloads”—carried by these and other Navy platforms
are equally, if not more important, than the “truck” itself.
This program guide will give you a strong sense of the
value we place on those capabilities, some of which are
truly game changing. If history is any guide, our Sailors
and line leaders will not just use these capabilities as
designed, they will employ them in imaginative and novel
ways to overcome any challenge they may face on, under,
or over the sea.
Our Navy has never been more indispensable to America’s
global influence, security, and prosperity. I trust every
member of the Navy-Marine Corps team will capitalize
on their intellectual talent and warrior spirit to make
the most of the cutting-edge technology coming into
the force.
Jonathan W. Greenert
Admiral, U.S. Navy
Chief of Naval Operations