Sea base hurdles: deployment of sea bases faces technical, budgetary challenges.

• Author: Tiron, Roxana

The notion that ground forces can be launched, supported and sustained solely from ships at sea initially was conceived by the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, but now is attracting attention from the other services. The idea, however, is still new to the Army and the Air Force, and the Defense Department has yet to figure out how to pay for this capability.

The sea-base concept hinges on fast ships and heavy lift aircraft to connect troops with the combat zone. These capabilities have not yet been developed and are prey to competing funding lines.

Moreover, the development of any new technology to support this concept must go hand-in-hand with the development of a common communications network, officials said.

At the behest of the Defense Science Board, whose study last year recommended that sea basing become a joint effort, the services have begun to explore this novel approach to fielding ground forces. For its part, Joint Forces Command is working on experimentation and gaming of the concept.

While the Defense Science Board lobbied for a joint program office, the services still have to develop their requirements, according to Adm. Vernon Clark, chief of naval operations.

"The joint program office should not build the requirements," he told reporters during a National Defense Industrial Association conference in Panama City, Fla. The services' requirements cannot "be formulated without analyses and gaming," he said. "After that, we can talk about a joint program Office."

He pointed out that the commitment of the services should be driven by their needs. "When the services see areas they can benefit from, they will participate," he said. For example, the Army would find the concept beneficial to solve logistics issues, he added.

The Navy and the Marine Corps' outreach to the other services, however, should not be misconstrued as a campaign to get support from the other branches, he cautioned. "If sea basing is going to help ... they will jump in," be told National Defense.

The services have "made a conscious decision that the integration is going to occur at the joint staff and among the services, rather than at an office within the office of the secretary of defense," he said.

The Army, meanwhile, has started analyzing the potential benefits of sea bases. "Joint sea basing is a critical initiative for the Army," said Lt. Gen. James Curran, deputy chief of the Army's Training and Doctrine Command's Futures Center.

"The Army is in the...