Sea Power and Maritime Affairs

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Sea Power and Maritime Affairs

• Lesson 16 The Era of Retrenchment Presidents
  Ford and Carter, 1974-1980

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Learning Objectives

• Understand the Navy under President Ford and the
  political and economic factors that contributed
  to the Carter Administration viewpoint of the
  Navys role in Military Strategy and foreign
  relations.
• Know the evolution of strategic thinking and the
  defense policy during of the Carter
  Administration and the internal political factors
  that influenced these policies.
• Comprehend the policy goals that preceded the
  Reagan defense buildup and the internal political
  situation that enabled it.

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The Navy Under President Gerald Ford (1974-1976)
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The Navy Under President Gerald Ford (1974-1976)

• VIETNAM Extreme frustration Congress would not
  fund 1 billion for SVN
• USSR
• Peaceful coexistence interpreted as rivalry for
  dominance through client states in Third World,
  notably Africa (Angola, Kenya, Zaire)
• Nuclear arms race intensifies
• USSR develops triple-MIRV ICBM, SS-20 Backfire
  bomber
• US develops Trident SSBN total of 8,500
  warheads (nearly 3,000 increase in five years)
• SALT-II dead in water

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MAYAGUEZ INCIDENT 12 MAY 1975

• Cambodian communist forces seize 40 man American
  commercial vessel.
• Diplomacy fails to gain release
• Pres. Ford sends in USAF, USN, USMC (largest
  deployment since Vietnam)
• Recapture 15 Marines killed 50 wounded!

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Economic Inflation Technology Costs
Pre - Vietnam Post - Vietnam
Forrestal 350 million Nimitz 2 billion
F-4 Phantom 3 million F-14 Tomcat 23 million
Destroyer 50 million Spruance 350 million
By 1975, the Navys 200th anniversary, the Navy
had less than 500 ships.
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President Jimmy Carter 1977-1981
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Decline of the U.S. Navy Under Carter (1977-1981)

• Background He inherited a congressional and
  popular antimilitary attitude as well as a
  reduced Navy composed of older ships.
• Diplomacy He believed containment could not be
  achieved through diplomacy and did not think the
  Soviets were a world threat.
• Salt I
• Salt II

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The Carter Naval Policy

• The President did not support naval expansion.
• His five-year building programs were extremely
  austere.
• He de-emphasized the presence mission of the
  Navy.
• He limited the conceptual basis for the Navys
  size to plan for SLOC protection and support of
  the major U.S. commitments to Europe.
• The Iranian crisis (1978-1981) forced Carter to
  send warships to the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean

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Iran Hostage Crisis
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So that's what our almighty government has had up
its sleeve since Day One to help our 50 brave
American hostages in Iran -- a military slapstick
comedy routine, played out in the deserts of
Iran! Denver PostSheldon J. Potter, Letter to
the Editor
People have been severely criticizing Carter for
doing nothing. But now when he does something and
it doesn't work he is going to be severely
criticized again. Arvid Laingen, brother of a
hostage, quoted in "Minnesota Relatives of
Hostages Differ Sharply on Rescue Mission"
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The Carter Naval Policy

• 1979, Anti-American Ayatollah Khomeini comes to
  power in Iran
• De-stabilizes the region for U.S.
• Since 1953 Iran was American friendly imported
  in excess of 10.5 million dollars of arms
• 1980, failed rescue attempt with hostages in Iran
• Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
• U.S. supports anti-Soviet fighters with high-tech
  arms
• Conflict lasts 10 years
• Soviets Withdraw, leaving Afghanistan in hands of
  warlords, (ultimately, anti-U.S. Taliban)

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Carter Doctrine

• Let our position be absolutely clear An attempt
  by any outside force to gain control of the
  Persian Gulf region will be regarded as an attack
  on the vital interests of the U.S.
• State of the Union, 1979

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Consequences Ford/Carter

• Carter policy of Soviets being European
  Continental Threat only badly damaged the Navys
  ability to handle crisis in Middle East.
• American Embassy in Tehran
• Stability in Middle East
• Iran/Iraq War
• Regan easily elected in 1980
• Carters dealing with hostages in Iran
• Soviet threat

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Discussion
Next time The US Navy from the Maritime Strategy
to 9-11, 1981-2001