Chief of Naval Operations

Shipmates,

You’ll hear me speak about a Kill Chain approach. I’d like to share what I mean — We use “kill chains” to help decide how we should invest our time, money, and other resources to build our capabilities and gain an advantage over our adversaries.  For example, to execute a successful attack, you have to:

1) Find the target;

2) Determine target’s location, course and speed;

3) Communicate that information coherently to the platform launching the weapon; and,

4) Launch the attack using anything from a kinetic weapon to electromagnetic systems to cyber.

For our own capabilities, we use this model to determine the most efficient and effective way to complete our kill chains. In particular, we emphasize chains we know the adversary will have difficulty breaking. A good example of this is undersea warfare. Not many of our potential adversaries are good at anti-submarine warfare..

To defeat our adversaries’ attacks, we look for the links where the adversary has a vulnerability and we have an advantage. When we break one of these links, if not all of them, we disrupt the kill chain and successfully defeat an adversary’s attack.  A good example of this is using electronic warfare and jamming to prevent an adversary’s radar from seeing us. That disrupts the first link in the enemy’s kill chain – Find the target. Once that link is broken, the enemy has trouble completing the rest of the chain and attacking us.

So when we build a new weapon or improve an existing system, we need to understand how the kill chain will be affected or implemented.

I hope this helps you understand an aspect of our investment strategy as we work on today’s and tomorrow’s capabilities. I feel this kill chain approach, from end to end, will ensure our Sailors operating forward have the best capabilities they need to remain the preeminent maritime force.

Thanks, see you out there in the Fleet!

JONATHAN W. GREENERT
Admiral, U.S. Navy

Shipmates,

Today I testified before the House Armed Services Commitee on our fiscal year 2014 Defense Authorization Budget Request on behalf of the Department of the Navy. Provided below is my opening statement:

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, distinguished members of the committee. It’s my pleasure to appear before you today to testify on the Navy’s fiscal year 2014 budget and posture.

I’m honored to represent 613,000 Active and Reserve Sailors, Navy civilians and their families who are serving today.

This morning, I want to address three points; our enduring tenants for decision-making, our budget strategy for 2013 and the subsequent carryover into 2014 and the course that we are on for 2014.

Two important characteristics of our naval forces describe our mandate that we will operate forward where it matters and that we will be ready when it matters.

Your Navy and Marine Corps are uniquely qualified to immediately respond to crises to assure allies and partners, deter aggression and to contain conflict.

Our fundamental approach to meeting this responsibility remains unchanged. We organize, man, train and equip the Navy by viewing our decisions through three lenses or you can call them tenants and they are Warfighting First, Operate Forward and Be Ready.

Regardless of the size of our budget or our fleet, these three tenants — these are the lenses through which we evaluate and we conduct each decision.

Now, if you refer to the chart that I’ve provided in front of you, for each of you, you’ll see that on any given day we have about 50,000 Sailors and about 100 ships deployed overseas– providing forward presence.

There’s orange bowties on the chart and they represent the Maritime Crossroads. Those are the key straits, the key “choke points” some call them, where shipping lanes and our security concerns intersect.

A unique strength of your fleet is that it operates forward from U.S. bases and they’re represented on this chart by circles. You’ll recognize those.

But there are places, and these are provided by partner nations, and they’re represented by squares around the world.

These places are critical to your Navy being where it matters because they enable us to respond rapidly to crises and they enable us to sustain forward presence with fewer ships by reducing the number of ships on rotational deployments. These places are important.

Now, when I last testified to this committee in February, we faced, in the Navy, a shortfall of about $8.6 billion in our fiscal 2013 Operations and Maintenance Account.

Now, since then, thanks to the Congress’ efforts, we received a 2013 appropriation in March. And, in accordance with our priorities and tenants, we plan to invest our remaining 2013 Operation and Maintenance Funds to take care of our “must-pay” items, such as payroll, leases, and utilities.

We’ll reconcile our 2013 presence with our combatant commanders. We’ll conduct training and maintenance for forces next to deploy and prepare to meet our 2014 Global Force Management Allocation Plan (GFMAP). That’s our demand signal, that’s our covenant with the combatant commanders. And we’ll restore critical base operations and renovation projects.

Now, though we intend to meet our most critical operational commitments to the combatant commanders, sequestration leaves us with a $4 billion operations and maintenance shortfall and a $6 billion investment shortfall in 2013.

And this is going to result in our surge capacity — the surge capacity of fully mission-capable carrier strike groups and amphibious ready groups, just to list the big ones, being reduced through 2014.

Now, further, we’ll have to defer about $1.2 billion in facility maintenance as well as depot-level maintenance for 84 aircraft and 104 engines and that’s just representative of some of this deferral that we’ll have to do.

When you consolidate operations and maintenance and investment shortfalls together, that leaves us with about a $9 billion carryover that’ll go into 2014 and that’s what we’ll have to deal with right away.

Now, continuation of sequestration in 2014 is going to compound this carryover challenge and it’ll go from $9 billion to $23 billion. That would be my 2014 challenge.

Further, the accounts and activities that we were able to protect in 2013, such as manpower, nuclear maintenance, critical fleet operations, to name a few, they’ll be liable to reduction.

Our people have remained resilient in the face of this uncertainty. And, frankly, Mr. Chairman, I’ve been amazed at our sailors and their civilians and their patience and in their dedication throughout all of this.

Our 2014 budget submission supports the defense strategic guidance. It will enable us to maintain our commitments in the Middle East and our rebalance to the Asia-Pacific. Now, we prepared this budget with the following priorities.

Number one, we’ve got to deliver the overseas presence in accordance with the Global Force Management Allocation Plan. That’s my demand signal. That’s my covenant to the Combatant Commanders.

Number two, we’ll continue near-term investments, ones that we started last year with your help, and continue this year into next year to address challenges in the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific.

And three, we’ll develop long-term capabilities, focus in on asymmetric capabilities, capabilities others don’t have, at the appropriate capacity to address war-fighting challenges in the Middle East and Asia-Pacific and other Combatant Commander areas of responsibility.

Our budget submission continues to invest in the future fleet. We take care of our people. We build ships and aircraft, and we’ll invest in research and development for new technology. We’ve requested $44 billion in ships, submarines, manned and unmanned air craft, weapons, cyber and other procurement — programs such as the SSBN(X), that’s the Ohio Replacement Program, the Virginia-class submarine, the Joint Strike Fighter, littoral combat ships, unmanned aerial vehicles of the tactical nature, DDG-1000, and the P-8, just to name the highlights.

These investments that will deliver a fleet, as Secretary Mabus said, of about 300 ships — of 300 ships in 2019. And these ships will have greater interoperability and flexibility when compared to today’s fleet.

We continue to fund important capabilities, such as the laser weapon system for small boat and drone defense, which will continue testing aboard the ship PONCE, here in the spring of 2014. We’ll deploy that soon. Also, in 2014, we will deploy on the aircraft carrier George Herbert Walker Bush, a successfully tested prototype system to detect and defeat advanced wake homing  torpedoes, a major vulnerability that we had reconciled.

We continue to grow manpower, 900 in net in 2014, as we focused on reducing our many gaps at sea, as we enhance Navy cyber capabilities. And we will continue to address our critical readiness and safety degraders, sexual assault prevention, suicide prevention, Sailor resilience, and our family support programs.

So Mr. Chairman, your Navy will continue to ensure our nation’s security and prosperity by operating forward to ensure access to the maritime crossroads. We’re going to be present where it matters, and we’re going to be there when it matters. This budget places our Navy on a course which will enable us to meet the requirements of the defense strategic guidance today, while building a viable future force and sustaining our manpower for tomorrow.

We appreciate everything you and this committee have done for our Sailors and our Civilians and their families. And we ask, again, for your support in removing the burden of sequestration so that we can better train, equip, and deploy these brave men and women in defense of our nation. Thank you.

Shipmates,

     In my last blog I talked about “Warfighting First,” the first of my three tenets Warfighting First, Operate Forward, and Be Ready), laid out in Sailing Directions.  “Warfighting First” is about what we do.  “Operate Forward” is our mandate—it’s about being where it matters, when it matters.  Our Navy, with our Marine Corps partner, is uniquely qualified to immediately respond to crises, build partnerships, assure allies and deter aggression.

When America needs a rapid response the Navy responds to the call.  Think back to your past deployments.  You can probably recall a time when you were steaming toward one operation when, suddenly, you got the call to head in a different direction and respond to an urgent, unexpected mission.  Those missions range from counter-piracy and humanitarian assistance to precision strikes and missile defense.  Every ship and aircraft that operates forward provides more presence and faster response to events in their part of the world.

    Our Navy is most effective when operating forward and history demonstrates that time and again.  In times of conflict, such as the War of 1812, being bottled up in port not only damages our forces but can severely delay our response time.  Yet operating forward in times of peace has proven, possibly, even more valuable.  Starting with the Great White Fleet in 1907, the U.S. Navy has proven it can protect American interests without having to fire a shot in anger.  The more the Navy is “out and about” around the globe, the more we can achieve our nation’s needs.

We operate around the globe using bases such as those in Hawaii and Guam, but also, more importantly, through places such as in Japan, Singapore, Rota, Djibouti, and Bahrain that our partners and allies allow us to use.  These bases and places allow us to rest, repair, refuel and resupply while staying forward and engaged.  So by using the lens of “Operate Forward” how can we achieve more forward presence more efficiently?  One way is to put more operational units forward.   It typically requires at least four ships from CONUS to keep one forward: one ship is deployed, one is returning, one is on its way forward and one is in deep maintenance.  For example, today we designate about 10 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers deploying from Norfolk and Mayport to provide two in the Eastern Med for missile defense to our European allies.  In a few years, we will cover the same mission with four destroyers based in Rota, Spain, and, therefore, free up six destroyers to deploy to other regions of the world.  This is much more efficient than rotationally deploying ships and aircraft from CONUS.  Similarly, we will soon homeport another SSN in Guam, providing the same presence as four deploying from the West Coast. In Bahrain we will expand our forward-based forces with more PCs homeported there and in the Pacific we will be operating Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) out of Singapore by mid-decade – starting with USS FREEDOM, which arrives in April 2013.   In addition to operating more forward through bases and places, we also can use different manning models to gain more presence.  Using rotating crews to man LCS and our support vessels, like Afloat Forward Staging Base USS PONCE (AFSB-I), means they can remain forward nearly continuously.

     America’s global interests demand a global Navy.  We respond where it matters, when it matters.  When we have the right units where they need to be we Operate Forward providing the most effective and efficient Navy our country needs.

JONATHAN W. GREENERT
Admiral, U.S. Navy

Hello Shipmates,

Since beginning of the year we all watched our nation’s financial matters impact the way we do business. Last week, the President signed a Defense appropriations bill which provides funding for the federal government for the rest of FY13. This legislation restores our operation and maintenance funds and grants us much needed flexibility to rebalance our finances.  Sequestration is still in place, but overall our budget shortfall is only about half of what we originally anticipated.

The Situation: With this bill in action now we can proceed with caution. We will carefully evaluate what we can afford to keep, prioritize funding our most important operations, and restore our investment accounts.

Budget Priorities: We will now assess how we want to rebalance. Our priorities will be funding reimbursables, reconciling our FY13 operations, preparing to meet our FY14 plans, and restoring required base operations and routine maintenance.

Sailors, Civilians and Families: So, what does that mean for you as member of the Navy team?  Civilians will be furloughed for 14 days, a decrease from the original plan of 22. SECNAV and I are working with DoD through this process and we will try to keep the furloughs as low as feasible.  For our Sailors, since our manning has been stable, your pay, retirement and PCS moves…

Shipmates, we’re going to operationalize our way through this with the Fleet.  We’re going to do the right thing, the right operations, in a deliberate manner to get 2013 where we need to be and prioritize for FY14. As always, I want you focused on the three tenets: Warfighting First, Operate Forward and Be Ready. And we’ll work on the budget back here.

Thank you for your patience, professionalism and for your service. You’re getting the job done, continue the great work!

JONATHAN W. GREENERT
Admiral, U.S. Navy

*If you are unable to view youtube.com from your station, this video is also available at: http://www.navy.mil/viewVideo.asp?id=18268

Shipmates,

I am re-purposing a memo I signed yesterday about the “Importance of Civilians to our Navy Mission” that is being released to all our Navy Civilians:

Navy Civilians are essential to what we do as a Navy. You repair and maintain our ships, aircraft and combat systems; plan and manage our budgets; and design and engineer our future force. Your efforts remain absolutely essential to our ability to be ready to fight and win today while preparing for tomorrow’s challenges.

Today, 186,000 Navy Civilians serve in every state and 20 countries overseas. I have seen firsthand your dedication, pride and unwavering commitment and I appreciate your steadfastness through this challenging time.

As we prepare for potential budget shortfalls, I remain focused on supporting our Sailors, Civilians and their Families and funding our most important missions. Today the Defense Department notified Congress that it plans to furlough Civilian personnel if sequestration goes into effect. If sequestration begins March 1, furloughs would begin in late April. Information on the furlough process and your rights and benefits is at: http://www.navy.mil/docs/CivilianFurloughsInfoImpacts_19FEB13.ppt. I will do everything possible to keep you informed and direct you to resources available to you and your families.

The Navy will remain on the front line of our nation’s efforts in war and in peace. Navy Civilians will continue to play a critical role in those efforts, even in the face of budget uncertainty and fiscal challenges. Thank you for the incredible work you do each and every day, and for carrying forward our more than two-century tradition of warfighting excellence and resilience.

JONATHAN W. GREENERT
Admiral, U.S. Navy

Shipmates,

        Today I testified before the House Armed Services Committee to outline the readiness impacts of sequestration and the lack of an appropriations bill.  The following is my opening statement:

        Chairman McKeon, ranking member Smith, and distinguished members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today.

        When I last appeared before you, I declared that there are two important qualities of our naval forces. And they are, one,  that we will operate forward where it matters at the maritime crossroads of the world, and that they will be ready when it matters. This remains our mandate. Your Navy and Marine Corps are uniquely qualified to respond immediately to crisis, to assure allies, to build partnerships, to deter aggression, and to contain conflict.

        Although our primary concern with sequestration and the lack of an appropriations bill is the impact they have on the readiness during this fiscal year, make no mistake it will have an irreversible and debilitating impact on Navy’s readiness through at least 2014. We will not be able to respond in the way the nation has expected and depended. We should make that kind decision consciously and deliberately.

        Three symbolic but not all-inclusive examples of the impact are:  the delay of the deployment of the Harry S. Truman, the delay in overhaul of the Abraham Lincoln, and the delay of initial construction of John F. Kennedy.  These were not inconsequential decisions, or the only decisions we have had to make, or that we are going to have to make over the coming weeks.  They did not come without significant consequences to our people, to the defense industry or to local economies.  Impacts of funding we realign today cascade into future years.

        The $8.6b shortfall confronting us in operations and maintenance has compelled us to cancel ship and aircraft maintenance, reduce operations, curtail training for forces soon to deploy, and plan for the furlough of thousands of civilians.  These actions enable current missions of forces forward-deployed, but subject to congressional action, we’ll have inadequate surge capacity at the appropriate readiness to be there when it matters, where it matters.

            We ask that Congress act quickly to replace sequestration with a coherent approach to deficit reduction that addresses our national security interests. We need an appropriations bill for this fiscal year that allows the department to allocate resources in a deliberate manner.  Without these actions, the condition and expected service life of our ships and aircraft will further degrade. Our Sailors will not be proficient and will not be confident to do the job. We will be forced to cancel or slow procurement of relevant platforms and systems needed to preserve our warfighting superiority, such as the Joint Strike Fighter, the P-8 maritime patrol aircraft, the littoral combat ship — all these and more will be in jeopardy.

        Mr. Chairman, I know you are dedicated to the men and women of our military and their families. But our folks are stressed by the uncertainty about their jobs, their operational schedules and more importantly their futures.

        I appreciate the opportunity to testify on their behalf and I thank you in advance for your efforts — and that of this body — in trying to avert the very real readiness crisis we face today. Thank you.

Hello Shipmates,

In my last blog post I briefly discussed the budget situation and how it might affect you and our Navy. I’d like to give you some facts as they pertain to you and let you know what we are doing to prepare for the consequences of a year-long continuing resolution (CR), as well as the impending threat of sequestration.

First and foremost, my main priority remains making sure we provide for you and your families, and fund our most important current missions and deployments. Your pay will not be reduced and your benefits will not be affected in fiscal year 2013. I’ve said before, retirement for those on active duty, and current retirees, will not be affected. Family programs and Tuition Assistance will remain intact and available.

This brings me to the “CR.” Since Congress has not passed a FY 2013 funding bill, we are operating under a CR. This limits us to FY 2012 spending levels in all our accounts, and prevents us from changing funding to programs or adding new programs in FY 2013. Further, the FY 2012 operating account funding levels are inadequate for our FY 2013 operating needs. We do not yet have permission from Congress to transfer money from other accounts to our operating accounts to make up for the shortfall. Therefore, to avoid running out of money in our operating accounts and to ensure we support deployed operations, we have to cut our spending in the operating account on maintenance and lower priority operations, starting now.

About sequestration. If this occurs in March as currently written in a previous law, we will endure across-the-board cuts, in all accounts, of about 9%. This cut will be on top of the shortfall due to the CR if we don’t have a funding bill at that point. These sequestration budget cuts could further reduce training and operations, unless Congress gives us permission to reprogram funding from other accounts.

I remain hopeful that Congress will pass a funding bill and sequestration will be averted. However, it’s important that you are aware of the potential events that affect us as an organization. Despite an unsettled budget climate, you continue to do exceptional work in accomplishing the mission at hand. Keep your focus on: war fighting first, operating forward and being ready and we’ll keep you posted on the budget developments.

 As always thank you for your service and keep up the great work.

 JONATHAN W. GREENERT
Admiral, U.S. Navy