"I think it�s a good idea because it�s become so blatantly obvious that the war on terror is a ground-oriented operation,� said Andrew Feikert, top Army analyst with the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service and a former Army Special Forces officer. �We could certainly use more boots on the ground."
"The new combat battalion would carry the additional benefit of providing the Navy with a ground force for counterterrorist operations that are too small-scale or remote for large Marine forces, he said." Civil affairs units, data mining, riverine forces to interdict insurgent lines of communication and transport...sounds like the Navy is listening to Barnett and the bloody lessons of Iraq. David Bier http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=979934&C=america Posted 07/25/05 15:41 Print-friendly version U.S. Navy Considers New Combat Battalion Naval Infantrymen Could Ease Strain on SEALS and Marines By CHRISTIAN LOWE The U.S. Navy may create an expeditionary combat battalion of sailors, a force that could execute commando-style raids ashore, maritime interdiction operations and other combat missions similar to those of Marines or SEAL commandos. These �naval infantrymen� would be a step above a master-at-arms � the Navy�s equivalent of military police � but would have somewhat less capability than a fully trained SEAL team. �The chief of naval operations thinks that with a long war, we need to create a sailor with a bayonet in his teeth [who] can go ashore and mix it up,� said a senior Navy official, who declined to be identified because all of the details of the plan have yet to be resolved. �Right now, the Marine Corps� [Marine Expeditionary Units] have been fully deployed in Iraq, and we�ve deployed amphibs without any Marines on board. If we had this capability, we could possibly put these sailors in this place, and they could provide the amphibs with some capability that they don�t have.� The battalion would consist of about 600 sailors and is expected to be fully manned by 2007, according to Navy documents. It is unclear who would train the sailors in combat tactics or how they would be manned, the official said. �The attrition rate through [SEAL] training program is pretty high, and a lot of those sailors that don�t make the cut for being a SEAL certainly could provide a good seed corn to build this capability,� the Navy official said. The establishment of a naval combat battalion is just one of a host of new capabilities the Navy hopes to develop in the next two years to contribute more to the war on terrorism and help ease the strain on the Marine Corps and Army, which are providing the bulk of combat forces for Iraq and Afghanistan. �I think it�s a good idea because it�s become so blatantly obvious that the war on terror is a ground-oriented operation,� said Andrew Feikert, top Army analyst with the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service and a former Army Special Forces officer. �We could certainly use more boots on the ground.� The new combat battalion would carry the additional benefit of providing the Navy with a ground force for counterterrorist operations that are too small-scale or remote for large Marine forces, he said. And when the Navy has to fight for money and influence in annual budget battles during a period in which ground power has reigned supreme, it would help to have a new land-warfare cadre of its own. In addition, the Navy also wants to establish: A provisional civil affairs battalion attached to Seabee construction forces in 2006 and a reserve civil affairs battalion by 2007. An active-reserve integrated structure for two helicopter combat support special squadrons. A unit that would be able to �data-mine� information culled from the National Maritime Intelligence Center, which tracks information on global ship traffic. A team that would exploit intelligence gathered from maritime interdictions. A community of foreign area officers who are experts in specific regions of the world. �In my personal opinion, the Navy wants to become more relevant,� Feikert said. �You don�t want people to look at you and say �prove your worth� � particularly when it comes time for the budget.� Heading Upriver In addition to the combat battalion, the Navy plans to create three riverine patrol squadrons. Earlier this year, the Corps announced it was disbanding its Camp Lejeune, N.C.-based Small Craft Company as part of an overall force structure reorganization to better support the war on terrorism. The new Navy �Riverine Force� would help plug that capability gap, the Navy official said. �If we�re going to need a maritime capability to prosecute a counterinsurgency in the riverine domain, the Navy should own that capability,� the official said. �If you�re going to fight an insurgency, you�re going to need to control the riverine environment � to interdict the flow of insurgents and supplies or whatever.� T.X. Hammes, a retired Marine colonel and counterinsurgency expert, agreed, saying a riverine capability could be key against some insurgents. �One of the things you have to do in [counterinsurgency] is control lines of communication,� he said. �In a desert, that is checkpoints on roads. In a jungled area or a wet area � Colombia or those places � then the riverine capability becomes important.� Although the details are still being worked out, the Navy hopes to establish its first active-duty riverine force squadron by next year. It wants to establish two more reserve riverine squadrons by 2008. It is unclear what type of boats the new units would use, the official added, but it is unlikely they�ll take over the Corps� fleet of riverine craft. �At one point in time, we were looking at possibly using their boats,� the official said. �We�re not so sure that that boat is the right boat for the missions that we envision.� Two platoons from the Corps� Small Craft Company deployed to Iraq last fall, and another two rotated to the war zone in March. After those units come home, the company will be disbanded, although it is still unclear what will happen to the boats. Riverine operations �are a traditional Navy mission,� Hammes said. �In fact, the Navy has done a great deal more riverine operations in its history than it has high-seas operations.� The Navy already has specialized riverine forces that help insert SEAL teams into combat zones. The new squadrons would be separate from those special-ops boat units, but likely would be based at the same locations, the official said. The formation of a special operations-like combat battalion and the assumption of the Corps� riverine mission is consistent with the types of operations the Navy has been emphasizing for several years. �The Navy for the longest time has been � not that they�re trying to get rid of the blue-water mission � increasingly littorally focused,� Feikert added, referring to inshore waters. �And both of those missions are definitely littorally focused.� Andrew Scutro contributed to this report. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> <font face=arial size=-1><a href="http://us.ard.yahoo.com/SIG=12hc2l2vp/M=362329.6886306.7839369.3040540/D=groups/S=1705323667:TM/Y=YAHOO/EXP=1122783887/A=2894321/R=0/SIG=11dvsfulr/*http://youthnoise.com/page.php?page_id=1992 ">Fair play? Video games influencing politics. 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