Pentagon's African command: will it float?

• Position: Washington PULSE - Brief article

While Pentagon officials fine-tune plans to create a new military command to oversee Africa, Navy leaders are floating a proposal to base that command's headquarters on a ship at sea.

Supporters contend that a Navy ship offers extra security and flexibility to move around as crises erupt. The high-tech vessel envisioned for this role also would be uniquely equipped to handle all forms of top-secret communications and command-and-control functions, says Rear Adm. Barry J. McCullough III, director of Navy surface warfare.

For many years, the Navy has wavered on the idea of building a state-of-the-art "joint command-and-control ship," and the project in...