Editor's note

Sea Power, Sep 2003 by Barnard, Rick

Vice Adm. Phillip M. Balisle, NavSea's thoughtful and creative commander, is also one of the Navy's best teachers. He is expert at explaining why the Navy is in the midst of an enormous change of its operational forces, and the implications of that change for support organizations like the Naval Sea Systems Command. The days of the Cold War seem comfortable in comparison to today's national security landscape populated by enemies known for their viciousness, treachery, and, most difficult of all, almost total unpredictability.

The Navy once rotated its forces to forward positions to keep watch over the Soviets. Life was relatively predictable. Today, the Navy has to be capable of surging its strike groups to world hot spots on short notice. And the forces sent racing forward must have the right combination of assets to defeat a capricious and furtive foe.

In this issue, we talk with Balisle (p. 17) about the surge Navy and the need for a maintenance force capable of rapid change. On page 30, Balisle teams with Vice Adm. Timothy W. LaFleur, commander, Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet, to examine the need for greater efficiency and communication among all elements of the maintenance force. Dr. Eric Labs, an analyst for the Congressional Budget Office, proposes some fascinating options for structural change of the surface fleet (p. 22), and we also take a look at improvements in naval fire support of troops ashore (p. 33).

But the most important story in this issue is Associate Editor Hunter Keeter's report (p. 8) of tragedy in Iraq. Fratricide is a part of warfare, but Keeter reports that the military has made little progress in identifying friend or foe on the battlefield. He quotes a top Marine Corps field commander, Lt. Gen. James T. Conway, who laments the death of Marines "who simply didn't have to die." Elsewhere in this issue, Correspondent Patricia Kime covers the preliminary lessons learned during a fleet battle experiment that began in April (p. 12).

The subject of "In My Own Words" (p. 56) this month is Marine Corps Capt. Aisha Bakkar-Poe, commander of a detachment of fledgling Marines at Ft. Meade, Md. A seasoned public affairs officer, Bakkar-Poe offers some piercing insights about the relationship between the press and the military.

This month, Alan Cozza joins Sea Power as Advertising Director. He brings to us years of experience as an advertising executive in the aerospace market, most recently as manager of international sales for the weekly publication, Defense News. Another new staffer, Assistant Editor David Munns, comes to us after several years with publishing enterprises in Austin, Texas. Arthur P. Brill Jr. takes his rightful place on our masthead as a Sea Power Correspondent. A long-time contributor to Sea Power, Brill is a Marine Corps careerist who held command and public affairs posts. He is joined there by Kime, a veteran defense journalist. Look for their articles in the issues to come.

Also this month, we begin accompanying many of our articles with a summary brief. We hope you'll agree that it improves the readability of your magazine.

As always, thanks for reading Sea Power.

Rick Barnard

Editor in Chief