CNO Outlines Navy Operations at Sea and Ashore
Navy NewsStand
Story Number: NNS070721-01
Release Date: 7/21/2007 10:10:00 PM
By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Tim Wightman, Navy Region Southwest Public Affairs
SAN DIEGO (NNS) -- Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Mullen stressed the critical role San Diego and the Pacific Fleet play in sustaining fleet readiness and the Navy’s expanded role in the Middle East during a breakfast meeting in San Diego on July 19.
“We need to make sure that we sustain the readiness that we have so that we can push somebody like a USS Ronald Reagan and that combat strike group pretty quickly,” Mullen said.
“We will always need that high-end capability, not just because of concerns in the Middle East; we have a vital basin in the Pacific, and stability in the Western Pacific is obviously really key.”
Mullen pointed to the additions of more submarines and the arrival of USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) to San Diego, along with the replacement of USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) with USS George Washington (CVN 73) in Japan next summer as evidence of the growing role of the Pacific.
“The Pacific region, for the long term, is not just a growing, but a vital, vital region,” he said.
A different kind of expansion is occurring in the way the Navy is helping the ground forces fight the war in Iraq.
Concerned about the amount of stress placed on the other forces with their combat rotations, Mullen said he was anxious, upon taking over as CNO, to try to relieve as much pressure on the ground as he possibly could.
He pointed to the Army’s current one and one deployment rotations, saying that often times, the Soldiers are out for a year but come back for less than a year. He also cited the Marine Corps rotations of seven months out, seven months back.
“We needed to relieve that pressure as much as possible,” Mullen said. “I’ve believed for a long time; we just can’t, as a Navy, stay a thousand miles at sea and watch all this happen. We have too much talent.”
Mullen said there are currently around 61,000 Sailors deployed right now around the world, about half of them serving in the United States Central Command, (CENTCOM, which accounts for 27 countries that stretch from the Horn of Africa to Afghanistan) and half of that number are serving ashore.
“Of those 13,000 Sailors that are on the ground in CENTCOM right now, about 5,000 of those are in Iraq; and they run the full gamut from the Seabees up in Anbar who are out west and have been side by side with the Marines, and our doctors, nurses and corpsmen who have just performed miracle after miracle,” Mullen said.
Along with the importance Mullen places on the Navy’s expanded warfighting role is the importance he places on care of the wounded. He quoted Secretary of Defense Robert Gates when talking about two critical tasks of the Navy in fighting the war.
“Secretary Gates has been very clear; he said the most important thing we can do right now is to get the right people to the fight. The second most important thing we can do is make sure we take care of those who are injured in that fight,” Mullen said.
Mullen pointed to the efforts of Naval Medical Center San Diego (NMCSD) in taking care of wounded warriors, and he recognized and thanked the commander of the medical center, Rear Adm. Christine Hunter for the job that she and her staff has done.
“I spent some time yesterday at Balboa. The evolution of care, which is occurring literally right in front of our eyes, is stunning,” he said. “They are taking care of about 90 wounded warriors there -- several of them amputees ... and the community outpouring of support to them, whether it’s recreation or how we help them find jobs, or how we connect them with the DA -- is really breathtaking. I couldn’t be prouder of what you and your people are doing.”
In his remarks, Mullen also discussed the value he places on strong leadership and diversity in the Navy; the critical importance of the Navy’s missile-defense capability for the future, pointing to the San Diego-based USS Decatur’s (DDG 73) recent successful work in that area; and also the successes and challenges of the individual augmentee (IA) program.
Among those challenges, he said, are those faced by spouses of IAs who find themselves without a support network to share their experience.
“It has been a struggle for us as a Navy to take care of these spouses,” Mullen said. “We have to do a better job connecting them (with each other) in their common experience. Once they are connected, it just sort of takes care of itself.
“Just setting programs up is not enough; we have to actively make sure they’re okay.”
Mullen mentioned a discussion he had with Commander, Navy Region Southwest Rear Adm. Len Hering, just prior to his address, about the issues San Diego military personnel face with the high cost of living in the area.
“I’ve been around California housing prices my whole life. We have to be able to somehow foster an environment in which our young people can come here and afford to live and be able to carry out the kinds of missions that we are asking them to do,” Mullen said.
“Innovative ideas on how we can do that in the future are more than welcome.”
In closing, Mullen thanked the local businesses, community volunteers and people who “care about San Diego, and about the Navy and our people.”
“I know there are many here that care greatly about what we do as a Navy and what the San Diego city and area means to us,” he said. “And I know you’ve worked for years to make sure this relationship thrives.
“We need that kind of support. We need it here and we need it wherever we are.”
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