The United States Navy

Foreword:

VISION…PRESENCE…POWER

picture of cno ~ Admiral Johnson
We are in the midst of a revolution that will dramatically transform the U.S. Navy as we fulfill future requirements. At the same time, we will continue to meet today's global commitments and challenges. This is not an easy task, especially during a period of high-tempo, worldwide operations and constrained budgets. But we must do so to ensure that the Navy remains the cornerstone of our nation's security in the 21st century.
Your Navy-Marine Corps Team provides the nation with unique capabilities for sea and area control that are fundamental to the success of our National Military Strategy in peacetime, crisis, and war. Evolving threats and relationships with allies, friends, and adversaries will place a premium on the mobility and global reach, self-sufficiency, sustainability, and multimission firepower of the nation's naval forces, epitomized by our aircraft carrier battle groups and amphibious ready groups.
During the past year, the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) and the National Defense Panel (NDP) confirmed our strategic vision and the transformational strategy by which the Cold War Navy is being streamlined, reengineered, and modernized to meet 21st-century needs. Especially in the arena of Network-Centric Warfare, with its foundation in the information technologies revolution, will we see a far-reaching change in the Navy's ability to shape the global strategic environment, to respond to more sophisticated and lethal threats, and to fight and win against any foe. Our embrace of the technological, operational, and institutional aspects of the Revolution in Military Affairs is matched by our commitment to the Revolution in Business Affairs that will change radically the way we design, engineer, acquire, and maintain our forces for the future.
This 1998 Program Guide to the U.S. Navy — Vision…Presence…Power — provides a comprehensive overview of programs that are critical elements of the Navy's transformation. Our plan to deal with post-Cold War challenges was first announced by the 1992 strategic white paper, …From the Sea. Our vision for the Navy was sharpened by Forward…From the Sea in 1994 and Operating Forward… From the Sea in 1997. These strategic and operational concepts serve two fundamental purposes: to sustain our Navy's operational primacy and ensure our ability to influence events ashore, directly and decisively, from the sea.
To do so, we must recruit, train, and retain the brightest, most highly motivated men and women the nation can offer. We must provide them with the tools they need — advanced and highly capable ships, aircraft, weapons, and sensors — to take full advantage of military and commercial innovation and accomplish the missions and tasks of the future. Most importantly, we must also ensure that our Sailors and their families enjoy a high quality of life that sustains and nurtures them as they serve America.
My challenge to the Navy is to think even more radically and innovatively as we enter the 21st century. We must set new standards of operational primacy at sea, in the chaotic littorals of the world, and throughout the vast reaches of naval power. We must continually search for innovative and efficient solutions to the challenges we face today and those we will encounter in the years ahead. Above all, we must dedicate ourselves to building a strong, balanced Navy that will prevail today, tomorrow, and for decades to come — anytime, anywhere!

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Admiral Jay Johnson, USN
Chief of Naval Operations

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