The NOC is Out

The long awaited Naval Operations Concept 2010 was released today.

I've quickly read it through, and I have two immediate thoughts:

1. The NOC is--as it was intended to be--a document that lays out the "ways" the Naval Service will attain the "ends" laid out in CS21. To that end, I would say that it succeeds. It is a well-written companion volume to CS21--and it does an excellent job of answering many of the "how" questions that were asked in response to CS21's release. It is well-organized, and it succeeds in adding operational context to the strategic imperatives laid out in CS21. It defines its overarching concept as "The Sea as Maneuver Space", and it ably lays out this concept.

2. The document does not contain a recommended force structure to support CS21, though it does have a section devoted to the "Future Force Structure"--primarily a discussion of the mix of vessels the fleet will field. CS21 was planned from the beginning NOT to contain a force structure--the NOC (begun in early 2008) was generally thought to be planned to include one. Whether it was the desire not to be seen as "tying a new administration's hands", the looming threat of the QDR, both, or some other reason I haven't considered, momentum built over time to delay release of the NOC until today, and to do so with no force structure. At this point, an argument can indeed be made that the QDR has rendered its judgment on Naval force levels and so inclusion of such a force structure would be either redundant (if it parroted the QDR line) or disloyal (if it stated a requirement different than that cited elsewhere). I remain of the opinion that it would have been useful for the Navy to publicly define the CS21 requirement--even if it were unaffordable--in order that policy makers and those on the Hill would have an idea what it was they weren't buying with the resources provided.

That said--I wouldn't let the lack of a force structure be the takeaway from reading this document. One should judge it by the standard of whether or not it operationalizes its parent strategy--and I suggest it does that quiet well.

Bryan McGrath