Naval forces possess the endurance to remain on station. There simply is no substitute for being there. Fourth, naval forces most elemental responsibility either alone or in coalitions is to deter war. But if that fails we can enable the smooth and rapid transition from crisis to conflict. And importantly, following crisis resolution, self- sustaining naval forces possess the endurance to remain on station and manage the transition back to peace and stability.
Naval forces are the forward presence force, on station before, during, and after a crisis.
In order to achieve these four ends, we feel that the capability for early, sustained response with combat-credible naval forces requires that they be forward deployed, configured to handle contingencies across the spectrum of operations, and prepared to operate in a joint and coalition environment. Neither the United States Navy nor any other navy or coast guard should do this alone. Coalitions, as we have seen over the last 50 years, enable each of our navies to provide unique capabilities that can play an important complementary role in support of the coalition s military objectives. Today we face far different threats than during the cold war. While my Navy remains capable of meeting the operational requirements of fighting and winning two nearly simultaneous major theater wars, our force is sized and shaped to support daily forward presence.