ALMARS

R 101900Z MAR 00 ZYW
FM CMC WASHINGTON DC//CMC//
TO ALMAR
CNO WASHINGTON DC//N011//
INFO CINCLANTFLT NORFOLK VA//N00/N01/N3/N5//
CINCPACFLT PEARL HARBOR HI//N00/N01/N3/N5//
CINCUSNAVEUR LONDON UK//N00/N01/N3/N5//
COMUSNAVCENT//N00/N01/N3/N5//
COMSECONDFLT
COMSIXTHFLT
COMFIFTHFLT
COMSEVENTHFLT
COMTHIRDFLT
COMNAVWARDEVCOM NEWPORT RI//00/01/N5/N9//
NAVWARCOL NEWPORT RI//00/01//
BT
UNCLAS //N03540//
ALMAR 016/00
MSGID/GENADMIN//
SUBJ/NAVAL COMMAND RELATIONS//
REF/A/CNO WASHINGTON DC//N00//102248Z MAR 00//
AMPN/THE REF IS THE CNO'S VERSION OF ALMAR 016/00//
RMKS/1.  THIS IS A COORDINATED CHIEF OF NAVAL OPERATIONS/COMMANDANT
OF THE MARINE CORPS MESSAGE.  RECENTLY, THE TWO OF US MET TO DISCUSS
THE FUTURE OF NAVAL COMMAND RELATIONS.  WE AGREED TO A ONE YEAR
EVALUATION PERIOD IN ORDER TO GATHER OPERATIONAL LESSONS LEARNED FOR
USE IN REVISING JP 3-02, JOINT DOCTRINE FOR AMPHIBIOUS OPERATIONS.
2.  THE PACIFIC ISLAND-HOPPING CAMPAIGN OF WORLD WAR II WAS THE
GENESIS FOR THE COMMAND RELATIONS IN OUR CURRENTLY APPROVED JOINT
PUBLICATION JP 3-02, JOINT DOCTRINE FOR AMPHIBIOUS OPERATIONS.  THE
ROLE OF AMPHIBIOUS FORCES ORIGINALLY DESIGNED FOR THAT WAR HAS
EXPANDED TO ENCOMPASS THE SPECTRUM OF CONFLICT AND THEREFORE MERITS
A REVISION OF JP3-02.  THE IMPACTS OF JOINT OPERATIONS AND DOCTRINE,
U.S. MARINE CORPS COMPONENCY, ROUTINE FORWARD PRESENCE, DIVERSE
THREATS, MARITIME PREPOSITIONlNG FORCE (MPF) DEPLOYMENT OPTIONS, AND
MISSIONS ACROSS THE RANGE OF MILITARY OPERATIONS REQUIRE FLEXIBLE
COMMAND RELATIONSHIPS TO OPERATE EFFECTIVELY IN THE TWENTY-FIRST
CENTURY.
3.  OVER THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS, NUMEROUS NAVY AND MARINE COMMANDERS
HAVE CONDUCTED AMPHIBIOUS OPERATIONS AND EXERCISES USING A SUPPORT
COMMAND RELATIONSHIP BASED GENERALLY ON JP 0-2, UNIFIED ACTION
ARMED FORCES (UNAAF).  HOWEVER, THE LESSONS LEARNED WERE NOT
ADEQUATELY CAPTURED IN ANY FORMAL PROCESS AND CONSEQUENTLY, THE
SUPPORT COMMAND RELATIONSHIP HAS NOT BEEN INCORPORATED INTO
AMPHIBIOUS DOCTRINE.  THEREFORE, OUR GUIDANCE FOR THE NEXT YEAR IS
TO USE THE SUPPORT COMMAND RELATIONSHIP AS DEFINED IN JP 0-2 AS
THE COMMAND RELATIONSHIP WHENEVER POSSIBLE IN LIVE AND
COMPUTER-ASSISTED EXERCISES AND EXPERIMENTS.  WHEN APPROPRIATE,
WE ALSO ENCOURAGE THE CONTINUED USE OF THE SUPPORT RELATIONSHIP IN
OPERATIONS.  WE WILL USE THE RESULTS OF THESE EXERCISES AND
OPERATIONS AS THE BASIS FOR FINAL REVISIONS TO AMPHIBIOUS DOCTRINE.
4.  THE EVENTUAL NAVAL POSITION SHOULD BE BASED ON TWO CENTRAL
PRINCIPLES.  FIRST, WE MUST STRENGTHEN AND PRESERVE THE CLOSE
SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP THAT CHARACTERIZES THE U.S. NAVY-MARINE CORPS
TEAM; SECOND, COMMAND AND CONTROL RELATIONSHIPS MUST PROVIDE AN
EFFECTIVE AND FLEXIBLE BASIS FOR JOINT FORCE COMMANDERS TO EMPLOY
NAVAL EXPEDITIONARY FORCES.  TO THIS END, IN FORMULATING YOUR
LESSONS LEARNED, SPECIAL ATTENTION SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO ANSWERING
THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:
A.  SHOULD THE JOINT FORCE COMMANDER (JFC) NORMALLY DELEGATE OPCON
OF THE AMPHIBIOUS FORCES TO A SERVICE OR FUNCTIONAL COMPONENT
COMMANDER?  IF SO, WHICH COMPONENT COMMANDER?
B.  WHAT FACTORS SHOULD BE USED TO DETERMINE THE SUPPORTED COMMANDER
AT VARIOUS POINTS DURING THE AMPHIBIOUS OPERATION?
C.  SHOULD THE COMMAND RELATIONSHIP OPTIONS AVAILABLE TO THE
ESTABLISHING AUTHORITY OF AN AMPHIBIOUS OPERATION INCLUDE OPCON,
TACTICAL CONTROL (TACON), AND SUPPORT AS DESCRIBED IN JP 0-2,
UNAAF?
D.  SHOULD THE TRADITIONAL CATF/CLF RELATIONSHIP REMAIN AS AN OPTION?
E.  SHOULD THE TITLES CATF/CLF BE REVISED TO REFLECT THE NEW COMMAND
RELATIONSHIP OPTIONS?
F.  WHAT SHOULD THE NORMAL COMMAND RELATIONSHIP BE?
6.  IMPLEMENTATION:
A.  THE EVALUATION PERIOD FOR THE SUPPORT COMMAND RELATIONSHIP WILL
RUN FROM 01 APR 00 UNTIL 01 APR 01.
B.  THE PRELIMINARY DRAFT OF REVISED JP 3-02, JOINT DOCTRINE FOR
AMPHIBIOUS OPERATIONS WILL BE USED AS A TEST PUBLICATION FOR THE
EVALUATION PERIOD.
C.  LESSONS LEARNED, AFTER-ACTIONS, AND OTHER COMMENTS REGARDING THE
RELATIONSHIP SHOULD BE SUBMITTED BY THE NUMBERED FLEET COMMANDERS
FOR THE NAVY, AND COMMANDER US MARINE CORPS FORCES ATLANTIC AND
COMMANDER US MARINE CORPS FORCES PACIFIC FOR THE MARINE CORPS,
FOLLOWING EACH SIGNIFICANT OPERATION, EXERCISE OR EXPERIMENT.
ADDITIONALLY, A SUMMARY OF LESSONS LEARNED SHOULD BE SUBMITTED AT
THE END OF THE EVALUATION PERIOD NLT 15 APR 01.
D.  LESSONS LEARNED, AFTER-ACTIONS, AND OTHER COMMENTS REGARDING THE
RELATIONSHIP SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO DEPUTY CHIEF OF NAVAL OPERATIONS
(PLANS, POLICY AND OPERATIONS)(N3/N5), COMMANDER, NAVY WARFARE
DEVELOPMENT COMMAND, AND COMMANDING GENERAL, MARINE CORPS COMBAT
DEVELOPMENT COMMAND (C42) FOR USE IN REVISING JP 3-02.//
7.  J. L. JONES, GENERAL, U.S. MARINE CORPS, COMMANDANT OF THE MARINE
CORPS.//
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