1. Joint Power Projection from the Seabase Panel
Ladies and gentlemen, I’m COL Ron Isom, Chief of the Logistics Division, Capabilities Development Directorate, US Army Training and Doctrine Command, it is great to be with you today to discuss the Army’s Role in Seabasing.
If you look at your program, I am here representing BG Phil Coker, the Director, Capabilities Development Directorate, which focuses on both materiel solutions to critical requirements and spiral development of materiel into the current/near term force. General Coker briefed the conference at an earlier session.
Several key points that I must make before I begin this presentation.
In this concept and all others, the key enabler from the Army standpoint is to achieve joint interdependency, as it forms a shared foundation on which the Services must base their base their individual transformation efforts. Consequently, we must focus on the joint fight (and avoid any potential domain ascendency debate) as pointed out in Serving a Nation at War. We all need to work interdependently to take this protracted fight to the enemy.
Army sees great potential in joint seabasing. In developing this concept, we must ensure that Army, Navy and Marine Corps capabiliities are complimentary and reinforcing, not redundant. We must also take a holistic approach, incorporating that which deploys through the seabase (via SDHSS, SSTOL, etc) as well as directly from seabased platforms.
The Army Role in
Seabasing
21 October 2004
COL Ron Isom Chief, Logistics Division
Futures Center US Army Training and Doctrine Command
Comm:
DSN:
TRADOC: Where Tomorrow’s Victories Begin

2. Agenda: Power Projection: Joint Interdependence
Army Perspectives on Seabasing Concept
Army Role/Seabasing Attributes
Seabasing Challenges
Summary
This will be my briefing agenda.
I will cover the Army’s role in Future Joint Operations, perspectives on seabasing, the attributes that the JFC be seeking for any Army force operating from or through a seabase and challenges that we see in the concept.
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3. Joint Interdependency: Joint Force Projection Joint Force Projection
HSOC
ISR Satellite
Commercial
Comms Satellite
Joint ISR
Joint ISR
Operational Maneuver from Strategic Distances
Military
Comms Satellite
JOpsC Tenets
Expeditionary — fundamental joint force attribute
Rapid, global deployment and employment-- fundamental capability
Simultaneous, distributed campaigns
XXX
Coalition
Simultaneous, multi-
Modal deployments
Theater Airlift
JTF HQ
XXX
UEX
MCG
Multiple
Dilemmas
Projection to
Operational Depth X UA
Strike UA X
USMC X UA X
HSV, TSV
(Sealift)
UEX
DCP1
Joint ISR UAV
Seabase
SBCT X UA UA X
Reduced RSOI
B-2
I figured that at this point of the conference everyone would be tired of powerpoint, so I decided to add a bit more color as a wake-up.
This concept depicts how the Army will fight as part of a joint force in the next years. It is a concept based on joint interdependence to deploy forces, seize the initiative, conduct decisive operations and once completed, transition operations.
The Army will fight as part of a C/JTF, in concert with other components to execute simultaneous mutimodal deployment, and conduct rapid operational maneuver from strategic distances, to defend and secure lines of communication (WHERE REQUIRED) and project force to operational depth. The intent is to present the enemy with multiple dilemmas that cannot be predicted, with no gaps or pauses in momentum and facilitate immediate employment of forces and effects when and where needed. This breaks the paradigm of the past and uses full joint military capabilities to defeat any enemy and accomplish national and military objectives.
Once land based, Army and Marine battle formations will not operate along continuous lines but in non-contiguous areas within the C/JFLCC AOR. Marine and Army forces will depend on strategic and operational assets to execute tactical and operational missions. Those assets can certainly deploy directly from CONUS, from an ISB or employ from or through the seabase.
There is no doubt that for Army forces in combined/joint operations, the seabase concept provides a valuable method of projecting, supporting and sustaining land forces.
Immediate
Employment
Defend & Secure
APODs & SPODs
SPOD
Joint ISR UAV
F/A-18
F-16
F-15
SSGN
Joint Fires
Seabase
Over the shore
SOF
APOD
High Deployment Momentum
No Gaps or Pauses
Versatile,
Unpredictable
Joint Force Projection
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4. Army Perspectives on Seabasing
Joint Seabasing:
Offers improved strategic responsiveness and operational agility into anti-access environments.
Potential exists for expanding and improving Army force projection and sustainment.
Critical to view entire future joint force projection challenge:
-- Throughout the course of an entire campaign.
-- Deliberate comparison with other force projection concepts/capabilities (SDHSS, HLVTOL/SSTOL)
Army will continue collaboration to develop and mature concepts for force projection and associated capabilities.
The Army believes seabasing offers a way of providing the strategic responsiveness and agility required to gain entry to anti-access Theaters of Operation. Access has already been proven as the primary challenge of the future for our forces. The value of this concept to that end has been proven already in Army, Other Service and Joint wargames. Since 1999, all Army Title X wargames have featured seabasing and in the past two years deployment of Army elements through and from the seabase has been wargamed. In Unified Quest 03 and 04, the challenge of projecting and employing forces was complicated by lack of protection of both lines of communication and forces and the belief of enemy Commanders that creating mass casualties by employing assymetric attacks early would lead to US withdrawal. Furthermore, seabasing enhanced the projection and sustainment of employed forces by reducing the competition between deploying forces and sustainment.
Within the concept, we believe it is critical to view seabasing from the perspective of a joint campaign or a series of campaigns where the President, SECDEF and RCCs have a menu of options for force deployment and employment to conduct missions across the entire spectrum of operations. It is absolutely critical to develop multiple approaches to rapid force projection and employment to include shallow draft high speed sealift, heavy lift vertical takeoff and landing aircraft and super short take off and landing aircraft.
The Army will continue to collaborate and develop concepts for force projection and associated capabilities, of which seabasing will be a very important tenet.
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5. Army Role in Seabasing/
JFC Viewpoint
Expands employment options for the JFC/provides ability to project Forces into non-traditional and austere Theaters.
Closes the gap between initial entry and follow-on Forces/enables Joint Force to more rapidly conduct decisive operations.
Provides scaleable power projection option to the JFC: retain select functions at sea — sustainment, fire support, medical, maintenance — reduces ashore footprint.
Enables the JFC to project and sustain wider variety of forces for immediate response.
Creates access for employment, provides support and protection to forces during entry operations.
Enables vertical/horizontal maneuver of mounted Forces by heavy lift VTOL aircraft/shallow draft high speed sealift.
As already proven in major wargames, seabasing expands the employment options for the JFC by providing him the ability to project and sustain forces in Theaters where either natural conditions or political exigencies will not immediately allow on-shore basing.
Options for the JFC are further enhanced by closing the gap between initial entry and follow on forces, so that decisive operations can be conducted more quickly. Options of scalability and reduction of footprint provide the JFC the ability to dial up or down tempo and mass of effects and project a wider variety of forces.
By providing a condition of access, when there is none, seabasing facilitates vertical and horizontal maneuver of mounted forces in VTOL aircraft and shallow draft high speed sealift.
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6. Army Operational Attributes for the Joint Seabase
RSO
In the Joint Seabase, the JFC will be looking for attributes and capabilities that will provide the capabilities needed to accomplish operational and strategic objectives.
To utilize Army Forces through the Joint Seabase, the listed attributes are just some of those capabilities required for Army force reception, staging, integration and onward employment of forces to a Joint Operational Area. At the center of this capability is the sea-based capability to host and execute Joint Command and Control. However there are many critical functions that can be provided to a deploying Army Force that will reduce closure time and provide the ability to conduct entry/seizure operations from a secure base.
I will not discuss all attributes listed, but one capability early on is Sea Based Theater Air/Missile Defense, which could be provided to support ground forces with medium/high altitude air defense capability and the means to defeat ballistic missile threats. This also reduces the requirement to immediately deploy Army air defense units to the JOA, which also saves strategic lift for other force flow.
Another key attribute listed is sea-based medical support which could provide more definitive surgical capabilities to care for those soldiers who are wounded and cannot be medically evacuated from the JOA due to their condition.
Again, it is critical to any concept on seabasing that high speed connectors be included. That said, we are not focused on specific materiel solutions, but the end state of deploying forces more rapidly and our ability to sustain operations once they arrive.
LOGISTICS
ISB
C4ISR
MEDICAL
TAMD
OPERATIONAL
MANEUVER
JOINT
FIRES
FORCE
PROTECTION
Critical to include consideration of SDHSS and HLVTOL/SSTOL in concept
RSO – Reception, Staging and Onward Movement
ISB – Intermediate Staging Base
TAMD – Theater Air and Missile Defense
C4ISR – Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance
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7. Challenges
Time and space - deployment and sustainment of large Army forces.
Campaign focus – continuity of operations once forces are ashore and beyond.
Vulnerability of sea platforms to attack and natural effects.
Interoperability – compatability of equipment, information systems, processes and procedures.
Lack of connectors – air and sea delivery platforms (number and capacity).
The biggest challenge from the Army perspective in the seabasing concept is time and space, the ability to deploy, employ and sustain a large Army Force through the sea base that will provide the JFC the sufficient capability to shape the battlespace and accomplish operational objectives.
A connecting challenge is that the current concept addresses only joint operations from the seabase from operations to seize the initiative to transition to decisive operations. We believe that the concept should cover an entire military campaign from deployment, to seizing the initiative, decisive operation and then transition operations.
All concepts have vulnerabilities and this one is not different in that in execution it would be vulnerable to surface, subsurface and air attack, as well as natural effects such as weather and sea state.
In the development of capabilities that support this need, the requirements must support jointness and requirements of those Service forces that will utilize the seabase. Certainly, Marine forces will naturally be users, but Army Forces may be users of many of the capabilities provided in a Sea Base.
- The lack of long distance connectors could be a challenge. Army forces will require both vertical and surface connectors that provide large capacity lift that can be used to rapidly employ forces into the JOA.
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8. … has the potential to improve joint Force projection and sustainment.
Summary
Seabasing …
… has the potential to improve joint Force projection and sustainment.
… provides the JFC expanded options for employment of Forces.
… must be developed in the context of a joint campaign.
Joint Seabasing is important to the Army and is a great opportunity to advance joint force requirements. There is still work to be done in this area to make this entire effort a larger collaboration and to make the concept more joint.
Our forces are better trained, led and equipped than ever before, but that does not imply that we have provided all that Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Airmen need or deserve. We will continue to work with our Service and Multinational comrades to find solutions that allow them to do their job better.
We must do all this within the context of a joint, interagency and multinational environment and a future that is potentially volatile, as well as unpredictable. This will require that we are adaptable in order to handle the speed and breadth of changes that will be required to accomplish our missions, now and in the future.
11/14/2018