Sea Power and Maritime Affairs

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Sea Powerand Maritime Affairs

• Lesson 19 The Era of Retrenchment Presidents
  Ford and Carter, 1974-1980

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So there I was

• Souda Bay, Crete OopsI did it again

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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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America Leaves Vietnam
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Results of Vietnam on the U.S. Navy 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-MIRVed IRBM, 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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USSR TU-22M Backfire Bomber
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President Ford meets with General Secretary
Leonid Brezhnev at the Soviet Embassy, Helsinki,
Finland. August 2, 1975. (American participants
include Henry Kissinger Walter J. Stoessel, U.S.
Ambassador to the USSR Lt. Gen. Brent Scowcroft,
National Security Advisor Helmut Sonnenfeldt,
Counsellor of the Department of State Arthur A.
Hartman, Asst. Secretary of State for European
Affairs William G. Hyland, Director of the
Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Department
of State Jan Lodal, Director of Program
Analysis, NSC and Alexander Akalovsky,
Department of State.)
Lower Right Secretary of State Henry Kissinger,
General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev (with
translator Viktor Sukhodrev at this ear),
President Ford, and Foreign Minister Andrei
Gromyko during the Helsinki Summit, August 2,
1975. Image size 17K
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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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CIA director, George Bush advising President Ford
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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, the smallest it had been
since 1976.
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President Jimmy Carter 1977-1981
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Decline of the U.S. Navy

• President 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 (expires 1972)
• Salt II (signed 1979)
• Proponent of 1-ocean Navy, strong supporter of
  Air Force and Army

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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 Post, Sheldon 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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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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Discussion / Questions
Next time President Reagan and Maritime Strategy