America has always been a maritime nation. Our founders recognized the United States as one and knew the importance of having a maritime presence, so they wrote in our Constitution the requirement that Congress shall “maintain a Navy.” As a trading nation, the United States has always valued and defended the freedom to navigate the seas. One of the first missions of a young U.S. Navy was to protect the safe shipping of American commercial vessels through the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. Furthermore, the United States Marine Corps was created to fight the North African pirates who disrupted trade. If you are familiar with the Marines’ Hymn, the line “From the Halls of Montezuma, to the Shores of Tripoli” illustrates the oversea
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Since the Second World War, if not before then, the United States has been a global leader with worldwide interests and responsibilities. The geographical reality is that the United States exists as a nation between two great oceans and the United States must be a sea power nation if it is to influence global security conditions. I do not need to stress that for us, freedom and the capability to use the oceans are vital. Everyone here knows around 90% of the world’s trade is carried by shipping, and this cannot happen without free and unimpeded access for cargo ships and oil tankers from every nation. Just as importantly, the United States must have the ability to use the sea for whatever military purposes are necessary to the nation. Moreover, no matter what kind of military power the United States projects overseas, this nation will always use the seas to sustain that military power. Indeed the Navy and all members of the Joint Force must be able to conduct their missions at a given time and place without prohibitive interference by any opposing force. Necessity motivates us and shapes the way we view maritime affairs. In other words, the United States and its Navy must ensure we have maritime superiority, everywhere and at all
Since the Second World War, if not before then, the United States has been a global leader with worldwide interests and responsibilities. The geographical reality is that the United States exists as a nation between two great oceans and the United States must be a sea power nation if it is to influence global security conditions. I do not need to stress that for us, freedom and the capability to use the oceans are vital. Everyone here knows around 90% of the world’s trade is carried by shipping, and this cannot happen without free and unimpeded access for cargo ships and oil tankers from every nation. Just as importantly, the United States must have the ability to use the sea for whatever military purposes are necessary to the nation. Moreover, no matter what kind of military power the United States projects overseas, this nation will always use the seas to sustain that military power. Indeed the Navy and all members of the Joint Force must be able to conduct their missions at a given time and place without prohibitive interference by any opposing force. Necessity motivates us and shapes the way we view maritime affairs. In other words, the United States and its Navy must ensure we have maritime superiority, everywhere and at all