Rear Adm. John S. McCain Jr.

The legendary three generations of McCains who served in the Navy were represented in the middle by Adm. John S. McCain Jr., who would go on to serve as commander of Pacific Command during the Vietnam War. Prior to that assignment, he penned this prescient May-June 1962 commentary while serving as commander of the amphibious training command at Little Creek, Virginia. "The Four-Ocean Challenge" argued that the Navy needed to train and equip itself for operations beyond the Atlantic and Pacific. He predicted correctly that the Soviet Union would look for a path south through the Middle East--although it would be Afghanistan rather than Iran--and that the Persian Gulf would one day require more than "one seaplane tender and two destroyers."

In Asia there is one unguarded area for possible Communist expansion, and ready seaborne striking forces would be an important element in checkmating such a move in time. This is a thrust through Iran down either the Middle East or through Pakistan to India. This thrust could be either military or subversive in nature.

The Allied Forces have pulled back much of their military power in this area since World War II. This military weakening has been somewhat offset by the increasing strengths of such countries as Pakistan and Iran. However, considering the area as a whole, bases and facilities for military operations are few and far between.

If trouble should come and we were requested to take military action by the friendly nations involved, we would not have time to construct bases on land. At such time the advantage of the mobile islands of sea power becomes apparent when the vast ocean area which extends to the south in this section are considered.

The need for long-range mobility will continue to grow.

This then leads to the paramount thought, that an Indian Ocean Fleet with an amphibious capability would prove invaluable in taking care of any trouble which may develop there. Today this fleet consists of one seaplane tender and two destroyers which operate in the Persian Gulf and down into the Red Sea. This small force must meet the responsibilities of covering 28 million square miles of ocean. It would appear that something is missing. Although the...