Identity crisis: Navy leaders to articulate current and future missions.

• Author: Jean, Grace
• Position: ANALYSIS

Recent efforts by the Navy to deploy forces for ground combat and engage in other non-traditional duties are signs that the service intends to be relevant in the U.S. war on terrorism, analysts say. But the Navy also has to come to grips with how it should define its broader role in military campaigns over the long term.

Until the Navy is able to clearly define its roles and functions--not just in current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan but also in future operations--it will continue to be vulnerable to budget cuts, which would jeopardize the service's plans to recapitalize its aging fleet, experts contend.

"The Navy does not have a coherent message explaining what its role is, in the long war," says Eric Labs, senior analyst for naval forces and weapons at the Congressional Budget Office.

During the past two years, the Navy has taken steps to increase its presence on the ground in Iraq, officials note. It recently reached a milestone in which more sailors deployed in the Middle East are on the ground than on the water. The Navy also has resurrected a riverine force to help thwart terrorists from using waterways to conduct business, and it has established a new command to train and equip sailors for maritime security operations close to shore.

But analysts also point out that the Navy seems to be the proverbial fish out of water in the fight. Many of the sailors on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan are carrying out nontraditional duties, such as providing security for military installations. As a result, the Navy's duties have been viewed as peripheral, or in some cases overlooked.

Navy officials have further complicated the message of what the Navy's role is in the nation's war on terrorism by promoting esoteric concepts, such as "sea basing" and a "1,000-ship navy." Sea basing refers to the Navy's plan to deploy large ships that would be used by ground forces in the absence of traditional land bases. The 1,000-ship navy alludes to the notion that the United States does not have enough ships to patrol the waters of every hotspot in the world, but if many countries pooled their forces, they would be in a far better position to do that.

These concepts, while sensible, have left members of Congress and other decision makers mired in confusion over the Navy's role in future conflicts, says Labs.

Because of its perceived peripheral role in current conflicts, the sea service is the most susceptible of the four services to budget cuts in the...