The Naval Operations & Planning SMARTbook

Providing an outline of Navy operational-level fundamentals and concepts, command, control, and organization, The Naval Operations & Planning SMARTbook covers essential Navy keystone warfighting doctrine and maritime operations at the JFMCC/CFMCC, Fleet and JTF levels. It bridges between the theory of operational art and the practical specific guidance that Navy commanders and staffs require to accomplish their mission. Chapters and topics include maritime forces, organization and capabilities; maritime operations; maritime headquarters (MHQ) and the maritime operations center (MOC); the maritime operations process; naval planning; naval logistics; and naval theater security cooperation!

Unlike the other components of the joint force, the maritime component routinely conducts operations across all of the domains, described as air, land, maritime, space, and the information environment. The maritime domain is defined as “the oceans, seas, bays, estuaries, islands, coastal areas, and the airspace above these, including the littorals.” This joint definition has fundamental implications for the Navy’s role in joint operations. The Navy is the principal warfighting organization that conducts operations over, on, under, and adjacent to the seas: overlying airspaces, surfaces, sub-surfaces, and the ocean bottom, as well as the shoreline infrastructures that affect maritime operations.

Themaritime domainalso contains social, economic, political, military, and legal components. About 70 percent of the world’s surface is covered by the oceans and seas. Naval forces operate from the deep waters of the open ocean to the generally shallower waters fronting the coastlines of the continental land mass and large offshore islands. About 50,000 large ships carry approximately 80 percent of the world’s trade. Each year 1.9 billion tons of petroleum, or some 60 percent of all oil produced, are shipped by sea. Some 75 percent of the world’s maritime trade and 50 percent of its daily oil consumption pass through a handful of international straits. There are some 4,000 ports involved in maritime trade, including 30 so-called mega-ports.

Navy forces demonstrate the nation’s resolve and intentions from international waters. Forward-deployed Navy forces are often times the nation’s first responders to events requiring military response outside the homeland. When adversarial action occurs beyond our borders, as a key element of the joint force that is readily capable of employing credible combat power forward, Navy forces are often times the first on-scene force to exercise the deterrence phase of a joint operation or campaign.

In contrast to the war on land, sea control is not obtained by occupying or capturing a certain ocean or sea area. It is not obtained through the permanent presence of one’s fleet. There are no front lines at sea and no fortified positions by which one can control the territory. The sea or ocean area is invariably abandoned by the victorious side regardless of whether the opponent was completely defeated or not. Sea control means that more or less by the destruction of the enemy fleet one can accomplish tasks without serious opposition from the enemy.

About SMARTbooks

Recognized as a “whole of government” doctrinal reference standard by military, national security and government professionals around the world, SMARTbooks comprise a comprehensive professional library designed for all levels of Service.

SMARTbooks can be used as quick reference guides during operations, as lesson plans in support of training exercises, and as study guides at military education and professional development courses.

The SMARTbook series of references are carried at virtually every Army and Air Force base around the world and have spanned the globe with more than 500,000 copies sold.

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