Sea Power and Maritime Affairs

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Sea Powerand Maritime Affairs

• Lesson 20 President Reagan, Interventionism and
  Maritime Strategy, 1981-1989

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Learning Objectives

• Comprehend the policy goals of the Reagan defense
  buildup and the internal political situation that
  permitted it.
• Comprehend the trends of public commitment during
  the period from 1980 to 1989 relative to the
  support for defense budgets, force deployments,
  and administration policies.

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Iran Hostage Wrap-Up

• Hostages released on January 20, 1981, shortly
  after Reagan inauguration.
• Where we once had an ally, we now had in Iran a
  vital enemy.
• So we picked up a new friend...

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IRAQ

• Supported Iraq in Iran-Iraq War 1980 - 1988
• USS Stark - May 1987
• USS Vincennes - July 1988

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The Reagan Foreign Policy

• Soviets are bad guys bent on world domination.
• We must build our military to combat communists
  and terrorists.

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The Reagan Foreign Policy
Soviets are bad guys bent on world domination.
We must build our military to combat communists
and terrorists.
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Reagan and Soviet Diplomacy

• Increased military spending (e.g., SDI)
• Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan

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REAGAN DEFENSE BUILDUP
Naval Expansion under Secretary of the Navy John
F. Lehman, Jr. (1981-1987)

• Rickover firing
• Revamping U.S. Naval Strategy
• Establishment of the Navy Policy Board
• The Maritime Strategy
• Interventionism, Peacekeeping and Responses to
  Terrorism
• Strategic Reorientation

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The Maritime Strategy

• Product of the Policy Board
• Main Tenet 600-ship Navy with carrier battle
  groups as centerpiece
• Offensive outlook designed to take the fight to
  USSR in their home waters
• Forward-deployed forces

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Criticisms to the Maritime Strategy

• Could be very costly in terms of carrier and
  aircraft losses.
• Difficult to keep SLOCs open with bulk of fleet
  concentrated for the forward offensive battle.
• Potentially provocative in destabilizing nuclear
  balance thereby, triggering nuclear exchange.

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Interventionism-Peacekeeping and Responses to
Terrorism

• This gave Lehman an opportunity to test and
  refine the naval doctrine
• Peace-Keeping in Lebanon
• Beirut Bombing
• Grenada (Operation Urgent Fury)
• Hijacking of TWA 847
• Achille Lauro hijacking
• Gulf of Sidra attack by USAF and USN
• Raid on Libya- Operation Eldorado Canyon
• Tanker War
• Operation Praying Mantis

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TWA Hostage Crisis
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Achille Lauro Hijacking
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Above President Reagan at Memorial Service for
Marines killed in Beirut To the right
President Reagan drafts his speech for Beirut
policy.
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Reagan on the Deployment of the Marines in
Lebanon (February 7, 1984) First to enhance
the safety of American and other M.N.F. personnel
in Lebanon, I have authorized U.S. naval forces,
under the existing mandate of the M.N.F., to
provide naval gunfire and air support against any
units firing into greater Beirut from parts of
Lebanon controlled by Syria as well as against
any units directly attacking American or M.N.F.
personnel and facilities. Those who conduct these
attacks will no longer have sanctuary from which
to bombard Beirut at will. We will stand firm to
deter those who seek to influence Lebanon's
future by intimidation. Second, when the
Government of Lebanon is able to reconstitute
itself into a broadly based representative
government, we will vigorously accelerate the
training, equipping and support of the Lebanese
armed forces on whom the primary responsibility
rests for maintaining stability in Lebanon. We
will speed up delivery of equipment, we will
improve the flow of information to help counter
hostile bombardments and we will intensify
training in counter terrorism to help the
Lebanese confront the terrorist threat that poses
such danger to Lebanon, to Americans in Lebanon
and, indeed, to peace in the Middle East. Third,
in conjunction with these steps, I have asked
Secretary of Defense Weinberger to present to me
a plan for redeployment of the Marines from
Beirut airport to their ships offshore. This
redeployment will begin shortly and proceed in
stages. U.S. military personnel will remain on
the ground in Lebanon for training and equipping
the Lebanese Army and protecting the remaining
personnel. These are traditional functions that
U.S. personnel perform in many friendly
countries. Our naval and Marine forces offshore
will stand ready, as before, to provide support
for the protection of American and other M.N.F.
personnel in Lebanon and thereby help assure
security in the Beirut area as I have
described. These measures, I believe, will
strengthen our ability to do the job we set out
to do and to sustain our efforts over the long
term. They are consistent with the compromise
joint resolution worked out last October with the
Congress with respect to our participation in the
multinational force.
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EL Dorado Canyon
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Operation Praying Mantis
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On 14 April 1988, watch standers aboard USS
Samuel B. Roberts (FFG 58) sighted three mines
floating approximately one-half mile from the
ship. Twenty minutes after the first sighting, as
Samuel B. Roberts was backing clear of the
minefield, she struck a submerged mine nearly
ripping the warship in half. Working feverishly
for seven hours, the crew stabilized the ship.
Samuel B. Roberts was sent back to the United
States for repair. Three days after the mine
blast, forces of Joint Task Force Middle East
executed the American response -- Operation
PRAYING MANTIS. During a two-day period, the
Navy, Marine Corps, Army and Air Force units of
Joint Task Force Middle East destroyed two oil
platforms being used by Iran to coordinate
attacks on merchant shipping, sank or destroyed
three Iranian warships and neutralized at least
six Iranian speedboats. Operating in
conjunction with USS WAINWRIGHT (CG 28) and USS
BAGLEY (FF 1069), USS SIMPSON (FFG-56) was
assigned to the strike on the Iranian oil
platform at Sirri, and shelled the platform. In
response, the Iranian Navy missile patrol
combatant JOSHAN approached the three U.S. ships.
When JOSHAN was warned to stand clear, she
responded by firing a Harpoon missile at the
group. SIMPSON was the first ship to return fire,
striking JOSHAN with the first of four successful
missiles she fired that day. After JOSHAN was
disabled by missile fire, she was sunk by
gunfire. As a result of that action, SIMPSON and
her crew were awarded the Joint Meritorious Unit
Award and the Combat Action Ribbon, along with
numerous personal awards received by individual
crew members.
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OPERATION PRAYING MANTIS Iranian Casualties
Sahand, Joshan, 6 Boghammer class
speedboats American Casualties USS Simpson
(damaged), 1 USMC Cobra gunship
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A CARTOONISTS TAKE THAT REAGAN INTERVENTIONS
SPELLED END OF POST-VIETNAM HESITATION
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Strategic Reorientation

• Nature In reaction to defeat in Vietnam and its
  debilitating aftermath, the Reagan administration
  proclaimed that henceforth the U.S. would only
  fight when its national interests were clearly at
  stake, and it would apply overwhelming force
  rather than commit a limited force in increments

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STRATEGIC LEGACY OF REAGAN 1.
GOLDWATER-NICHOLS 2. WEINBERGER
DOCTRINE 3. POWELL DOCTRINE
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Strategic Legacy of Reagan

• Weinberger Doctrine
• Be reluctant to employ force, but then use only
  overwhelming force
• Powell Doctrine
• CJCS Colin Powell, same as Weinberger
• Goldwater-Nichols Defense Reorganization Act
• Elevated CJCS to principle military strategist
  for the nation, 1986

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Secretary of Defense, Casper Weinberger is shown
administering the Oath of Office to General
Alfred Gray, Commandant of the Marine Corps July
1, 1987.
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The Immediate Post-Lehman Navy (1987-1991)

• The Navy continued to be built around the
  big-deck carrier.
• Navy continued to be dominated by the carrier
  aviation and nuclear submarine communities.
• Question for the 1990s What was the proper
  size and composition of the surface fleet in an
  era of shrinking appropriations?
• Desert Shield/ Desert Storm (1990, 1991)

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Learning Objectives

• Comprehend the policy goals of the Reagan defense
  buildup and the internal political situation that
  permitted it.
• Comprehend the trends of public commitment during
  the period from 1980 to 1989 relative to the
  support for defense budgets, force deployments,
  and administration policies.

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DISCUSSION / QUESTIONS
Next time The Navy in the Gulf War, 1990-1991