The United States Navy

Foreword:

VISION…PRESENCE…POWER

We live in a complex and ever-changing world. Although the growth of free market economies and democracies continues, nationalism, economic inequities, and ethnic tensions still remain facts of life. This creates a dynamic and uncertain security environment as we enter the 21st century.

Last year more than 50,000 American men and women in some 120 ships were forward-deployed every day, protecting American interests in far-flung places around the world. Your Navy-Marine Corps Team responded to an international crisis on average every three weeks in 1998 — four times the Cold War rate. It is clear the mobility, global reach, and self-sufficiency of the nation's naval forces — unencumbered by the need for in-theater basing privileges — are increasingly crucial to protecting our national interests. Indeed, as 1998 drew to a close, after Saddam Hussein's repeated resistance to U.N. weapons inspectors, America's deployed naval forces were on the scene and ready when the President ordered attacks against Iraq's weapons of mass destruction industry.

Although our deployed forces continue to answer the nation's call, constrained fiscal resources have seriously affected the way we do business. As we face the challenges of an uncertain world and the growing risk of asymmetric threats, it is imperative we take full advantage of emerging technologies, new concepts, and doctrinal changes. We must search aggressively for innovation in the ongoing revolutions in military and business affairs, both to maintain our maritime superiority and the ability to readily answer the nation's call in the coming years.

The men and women of your Navy, who stand ready to go in harm's way, are among the brightest and most highly motivated in the nation. We must give them the tools they need to do the job — highly capable ships, aircraft, weapons and equipment. Of equal importance, we must ensure our people and our Navy families are afforded the quality of life that sustains and nurtures them as they serve our country. They deserve nothing less. I have challenged our Navy men and women and our civilians to discover innovative solutions to the many tasks we face today and those we know lie ahead. To the Congress and American public, I ask, and thank you, for your continued support to ensure that your Navy remains capable and ready to defend our national security, economic prosperity, and democratic way of life — anytime, anywhere.

This 1999 Program Guide to the U.S. Navy — Vision…Presence…Power — provides an overview of the programs crucial to our transformation into the 21st century. These programs have been carefully reviewed. They are the critical elements necessary to achieve an acceptable balance between readiness today and that of the future.


Admiral Jay L. Johnson, USN
Admiral, U.S. Navy
Chief of Naval Operations

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