The Navy Irregular Warfare Office

Many thought this should have happened after the USS Cole (DDG 67) incident in Yemen. Perhaps it is a result of someone thinking clearly about Bonga? Or perhaps it is simply a recognition that the Navy needs to take the small stuff a bit more seriously than they appear to today. Regardless, the Navy has a new staff.

In a July message, the Navy Irregular Warfare Office was established to report to the deputy chief of naval operations for information, plans and strategy. It’s directed by Rear Adm. Mark Kenny, a submariner, who currently commands the Navy’s center for submarine counterterrorism.

Among other direction, the new office is tasked with institutionalizing ongoing counterinsurgency and counterterrorism missions into “Navy strategic planning, analysis, and future capability and concept development.”

One wonders if the Navy will take the role seriously, or if this is how the Navy throws a bone at SECDEF's new National Defense Strategy. There is a good case to be made this office has a lot to do, managing 21st century challenges is an exercise in irregular warfare and counterinsurgency. The three most violent places at sea today are driven primarily by either counterinsurgencies or failed state terrorism, and I'm talking specifically about Sri Lanka, Nigeria, and Somalia.

Sri Lanka and Nigeria are insurgencies at sea, even if they are both different. They seem half a world away and mean very little to the average joe and jane American, right up until they successfully send 400,000 barrels a day to hell.

We see this as a good move, and wish Rear Adm. Mark Kenny fair winds. Hopefully this new office is taken seriously.