Mike
14 January 2000, 16:02
Armed Forces Journal International
January 2000
Pg. 30
Waterborne Commandos
An AFJI Interview With R. Adm. Eric T. Olson, USN Commander, US Naval Special Warfare Command (NAVSPECWARCOM)
By Glenn W. Goodman, Jr.
Naval special warfare (NSW) forces, assigned to NAVSPECWARCOM in Coronado, CA, include Navy Sea-Air-Land (SEAL) Teams, Special Boat Units, and SEAL Delivery Vehicle (SDV) Teams on both coasts. Operating mainly in 16-man platoons from sea-based platforms and land-based units, SEAL commandos—the best-trained combat swimmers in the world—conduct ground and waterborne special reconnaissance and direct action missions in a maritime,
littoral, or riverine environment in support of joint and fleet operations. Special Boat Units, manned by Combatant Craft Crewmen, operate a variety of special operations ships and watercraft used to insert and extract SEALs, such as rigid inflatable boats (RIBs) and Mark V high-speed patrol boats. The SDV is a fully flooding submersible that deploys from a dry-deck shelter atop a submarine and can transport a small number of SEALs underwater to conduct clandestine reconnaissance or direct action missions. A SEAL platoon and a RIB detachment routinely embark with each deploying Navy/Marine Corps Amphibious Ready
Group; a SEAL platoon embarks with each carrier battle group deploying from the east coast; and a SEAL platoon is dedicated to—but does not embark with—each carrier battle group deploying from the west coast. NAVSPECWARCOM, a component of US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) in Tampa, FL, organizes, trains, and equips NSW forces to support the US geographic commanders-in-chief (CinCs) around the world.
R. Adm. Olson assumed his position as the Navy’s top SEAL in September 1999 after serving as the Chief of Staff of Joint Special Operations Command, Ft. Bragg, NC for two years. A 1973 Naval Academy graduate, he participated in Operation Desert Storm as the commander of SDV Team One. He then commanded Special Boat Squadron Two in 1991-93 and the NSW Development Group in Dam Neck, VA in 1994-97.
Organizational changes in the works: "Our organization today is roughly the same as it was during the Vietnam conflict, despite the establishment of the unified theater CinCs and much change to our equipment inventory. We’re still effective, but we are not organized in the best way to provide the warfighting capabilities that we believe forward operational commanders, both naval and joint, ought to have from us. As a result, we’re developing a strategic plan, which we are going to call "Forward...from the Sea-Air-Land." When executed, this plan will provide the operational commanders greater synergism of deployed Naval Special Warfare elements, more streamlined access by Navy commanders to joint SOF [Special Operations Forces] assets already forward-deployed, and enhanced command and
control under more senior Naval Special Warfare leadership forward. The plan will look at ways to provide more capability when it’s needed and less when it’s not.
Our intent is to provide a tailored, synergized force to operational commanders with priority missions.
"The Navy, Marine Corps, and USSOCOM are full partners in the development of the plan, which will ensure that we receive inputs from all the potential operational commanders about what the roles and missions that we’re expected to execute will be, so that we will be properly trained and equipped. There’s no specific timeline for execution of the strategic plan, but we’re moving it forward as quickly as we can."
Increased forward basing of joint SOF proposed by USSOCOM: "Our NSW forces are already forward-based in every geographic theater. We have a permanent presence with our Naval Special Warfare Units under each of the theater CinCs. Those each have a headquarters, along with a SEAL platoon, a RIB detachment, and other NSW forces permanently assigned on a rotational basis. Joint SOF forward basing will further enhance interoperability and provide a more
capable and flexible package to forward operational commanders. Our community is in favor of it."
Personnel breakdown: "We have about 4,950 active personnel as well as just under 1,200 Reservists. Of the 4,950, about 850 are officers and 4,100 are enlisted personnel. The officers include about 400 SEALs and 450 non-SEAL officers assigned to the command. Of the enlisted, about 2,100 are SEALs and
SEAL-qualified [medical] corpsmen, just over 500 are combatant craft crewmen, and about 1,500 are fleet support technicians. A little over 200 of our 4,950 total
personnel are SDV- or dry-deck shelter-qualified."
NSW Surface Warfare Combatant Crewman (SWCC) enlisted specialty: "It’s been a great success. We’re already seeing its positive effects in helping retain qualified boat crewmen in the NSW community. We’re in our second year of ‘closed-loop detailing,’ in which we control the detailing process for those people. Some personnel will spend 100 percent of their careers in our community, but 100 percent recycling of all personnel is not necessarily our goal. What we want to do
is to reach the point where multiple tours in Naval Special Warfare are the norm, but with enough non-NSW assignments to sustain an environment of fresh thought and to help achieve our recruiting goals. Frankly, our best recruiting of SWCC personnel comes from members of our community who are back doing tours with the
Navy and send the best of the sailors they meet our way."
Naval Small Craft Instruction and Technical Training School reestablished in Mississippi from Panama in October 1999: "What NAVSCIATTS
[pronounced nav-skee-otts] does is provide technical training to the navies and coast guards of friendly nations under the SOF core mission area of foreign internal
defense [FID]. The instruction covers how to operate and maintain small naval vessels. The new location in Mississippi provides us quality training areas with its proximity to unique river and coastal areas and also permits us to accept students from non-Latin American countries, such as those in the Pacific Rim or sub-Saharan Africa—something we couldn’t do when the school was located in Panama."
FID training by NSW personnel around the world: "It is typically done at either the squad or platoon level when it involves SEALs and at the boat detachment level when it involves one of our Special Boat Units. We also conduct FID training aboard our Patrol Coastal [PC] ships. We’re engaged worldwide. In the past year, we conducted 32 missions in 24 countries in every geographic theater."
Retention problem involving SEAL lieutenants: "We’re still having difficulty, but the situation is better than it was. The problem reached a high point about three
years ago, when 36 lieutenants resigned. In Fiscal Year ‘98, we lost 31. In Fiscal Year ‘99, the number was down to 16, and we forecast losing about 15 this year.
So we’ve made great strides. Part of it has simply been a greater emphasis on retention, particularly by my predecessor, R. Adm. Tom Richards. We believe that the recent pay increases that were approved by Congress will be helpful.
"Our retention of lieutenants and the mid-grade enlisted personnel who are the focus of our effort remains higher than that of other Navy warfighting communities, but
retention still remains a great concern for us. In fact, because of our structure, which requires a higher percentage of senior leadership, we have different retention
needs than those other communities.
"A Special Warfare Officer Continuation Pay bonus was just approved. It is targeted at NSW officers with 6 to 14 years of service, and provides them a $6,000 bonus to continue one year, $8,000 per year for a 3-year commitment, and $10,000 per year for a commitment of 4 or more years, up through their 14th year of service. We think that will give us an additional retention boost.
"Our enlisted retention has remained fairly steady over time, but neither our enlisted retention nor our recruiting are as high as we would like. There have been some
recent pay changes on the enlisted side, including the authorization of additional hazardous duty pay and an increase in the cap for reenlistment bonuses, that we
anticipate will have a positive effect.
"We understand that increased pay won’t necessarily keep all our good people, but failure to pay them what they’re worth will cause some to seek more stability
and greater pay elsewhere. The real key to retention in this community is providing a sense of mission, pride, and camaraderie—elements that we are uniquely suited
to provide. So we are focusing our recruiting and retention efforts on those areas, with pay an additional factor."
Navy mine countermeasures missions: "We have always been responsible for locating and clearing obstacles from the three-and-a-half fathom line—from the 21-foot depth into the beach. Doctrinally that has not changed. But we have a very limited capability to address mines located in that region. The larger Navy has a
very limited capability to conduct mine countermeasures inside of 40 feet of depth, because of the surface assets that they use to do that.
"So what we have done is to contribute significantly to a Navy-Marine Corps detachment that has been established here in Coronado, CA to develop effective,
very-shallow-water mine countermeasures capabilities inside the 40-foot curve. The detachment has a SEAL commander, but its 100 personnel are one-third NSW, one-third Explosive Ordnance Disposal, and one-third Marine Corps. They are evaluating new technology solutions to the very-shallow-water mine countermeasures [VSW-MCM] problem. The ultimate goal is to eliminate the requirement to put a man in the minefield altogether, but we’re some time away from
reaching that goal."
Closer working relationship with Marines: "We’re probably working closer with them than ever before. The Navy’s emphasis on littoral warfare has revalidated what Naval Special Warfare has always done, which is to treat the littoral not just as a piece of geography that we have to cross to get to the objective area, but as an objective area in and of itself. We continue to work closely with the Marines in and across the littoral and continue to deploy with them on each Amphibious Ready Group, ready to support the ARG’s embarked MEU-SOC [Marine Expeditionary Unit-Special Operations Capable]. The VSW-MCM effort has partnered
us with the Marines in that area, and the increased emphasis, particularly in Latin America, on warfare in the riverine environment has created another dialogue with
the Marine Corps to better define roles and missions, so that we’re neither leaving gaps nor stepping on each other’s toes in that environment."
The Navy’s 13 (170-foot-long) Patrol Coastal (PC) ships: "They have been an unqualified success. They’ve crossed the ocean to serve in every theater. They are well received and well employed by the forward operational commanders. They are able to go where other Navy ships can’t go. The SEALs and Special Boat detachments have found them to be flexible and capable mother ships. The Navy and the joint operational commanders overseas have used them in key roles,
including both wartime and peacetime operations. Their record of performance is impressive by every measure. They’ve been particularly effective in counterdrug
operations in support of US Southern Command. Unfortunately, due to budget constraints, there is a programmed drawdown of the PC ships from 13 to 7 over
several years beginning in Fiscal Year ‘02.
"The PCs have been great for our community. They have provided a relationship with the Navy surface warfare community that’s very important to us [they are manned by fleet sailors and surface warfare officers], as well as great operational flexibility for our SEALs."
Mark V (82-foot) Special Operations Craft: "The [air-transportable] Mk V has been a great platform for us. It has given us a significant improvement in our medium-range SEAL insertion, extraction, and support capabilities. It is particularly effective in relatively closed areas, such as the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean, where it can reach out from a shore base to strike objective areas. But it has proven effective worldwide."
New 11-meter NSW Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat (RHIB): "To date, a total of 44 have been delivered of an inventory objective of 70. We recently validated the Maritime Craft Air Delivery System for the 11-meter RHIB, which allows us to air-drop it. It’s a cradle system that separates from the hull upon exit from the aircraft; the craft lands on its own hull and the cradle system lands separately. We will be deploying that capability within the next few months, beginning in the
European theater."
The Advanced SEAL Delivery System (ASDS)—a new, air-transportable, small (65-foot) submarine: "The first hull is in the water. In October, it began shallow-water testing at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, MD. Upon completion of that testing, it will be flown out to Hawaii for deep-water testing in January or February [2000]. We anticipate that it will join the fleet within a year. A second ASDS will be funded in Fiscal Year ‘03 and a third one in Fiscal Year ‘05.
"The ASDS [April AFJI] is going to give us a capability unlike anything we’ve ever had. It will deliver SEALs warmer and drier with greater payload and speed over
longer distances than has been possible with [Mk VIII 22-foot wet submersible] SDVs, which expose SEALs to extremely cold sea water for several hours. I think
that once the ASDS becomes operational and shows its capability, it will be used for missions beyond the pure SEAL insertion/extraction role for which it was
originally designed. Four SSN-688 Los Angeles-class nuclear attack submarines will be modified to serve as ASDS host platforms. In addition, the third and final
Seawolf-class sub, SSN-23, will be fitted to host it, and at least six, and possibly all, New Attack Submarines will be ASDS-capable."
Mk VIII SDVs: "The ASDS will not totally replace our 10 Mk VIII SDVs. We will still retain SDVs to conduct specific missions that are just not suited for the
larger ASDS. All our Mk VIIIs have undergone a service life-extension program to the upgraded Mod 1 configuration, which is quieter and has twice the range and
50 percent higher top speed than the Mod 0. All our current dry-deck shelter-capable submarines are being decommissioned, but five SSN-688 submarines will be
modified to carry dry-deck shelters [DDS] for the SDVs. In terms of pure physical endurance, an SSN-DDS-SDV whole mission profile that can extend six to 10
hours is the toughest mission we do."
Counterproliferation mission: "We’re still defining what our roles and missions in counterproliferation [of weapons of mass destruction] are. At this point, they
certainly include the ability to operate in a contaminated environment to the limit of the protective equipment we’ve been provided, and we are training hard to that
level."
Priorities: "My top priority is to retain the quality of our NSW forces through training, retention, and recruiting. We are still a people-oriented community, and one
of our mantras is, ‘We don’t equip the man, we man the equipment.’ Second, we are striving for ways to better organize and synergize our forces, as I said, to more
effectively provide the warfighting capabilities that operational commanders require. And third, we continue to push technology advances to ensure that we give our people the best equipment that we can."
January 2000
Pg. 30
Waterborne Commandos
An AFJI Interview With R. Adm. Eric T. Olson, USN Commander, US Naval Special Warfare Command (NAVSPECWARCOM)
By Glenn W. Goodman, Jr.
Naval special warfare (NSW) forces, assigned to NAVSPECWARCOM in Coronado, CA, include Navy Sea-Air-Land (SEAL) Teams, Special Boat Units, and SEAL Delivery Vehicle (SDV) Teams on both coasts. Operating mainly in 16-man platoons from sea-based platforms and land-based units, SEAL commandos—the best-trained combat swimmers in the world—conduct ground and waterborne special reconnaissance and direct action missions in a maritime,
littoral, or riverine environment in support of joint and fleet operations. Special Boat Units, manned by Combatant Craft Crewmen, operate a variety of special operations ships and watercraft used to insert and extract SEALs, such as rigid inflatable boats (RIBs) and Mark V high-speed patrol boats. The SDV is a fully flooding submersible that deploys from a dry-deck shelter atop a submarine and can transport a small number of SEALs underwater to conduct clandestine reconnaissance or direct action missions. A SEAL platoon and a RIB detachment routinely embark with each deploying Navy/Marine Corps Amphibious Ready
Group; a SEAL platoon embarks with each carrier battle group deploying from the east coast; and a SEAL platoon is dedicated to—but does not embark with—each carrier battle group deploying from the west coast. NAVSPECWARCOM, a component of US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) in Tampa, FL, organizes, trains, and equips NSW forces to support the US geographic commanders-in-chief (CinCs) around the world.
R. Adm. Olson assumed his position as the Navy’s top SEAL in September 1999 after serving as the Chief of Staff of Joint Special Operations Command, Ft. Bragg, NC for two years. A 1973 Naval Academy graduate, he participated in Operation Desert Storm as the commander of SDV Team One. He then commanded Special Boat Squadron Two in 1991-93 and the NSW Development Group in Dam Neck, VA in 1994-97.
Organizational changes in the works: "Our organization today is roughly the same as it was during the Vietnam conflict, despite the establishment of the unified theater CinCs and much change to our equipment inventory. We’re still effective, but we are not organized in the best way to provide the warfighting capabilities that we believe forward operational commanders, both naval and joint, ought to have from us. As a result, we’re developing a strategic plan, which we are going to call "Forward...from the Sea-Air-Land." When executed, this plan will provide the operational commanders greater synergism of deployed Naval Special Warfare elements, more streamlined access by Navy commanders to joint SOF [Special Operations Forces] assets already forward-deployed, and enhanced command and
control under more senior Naval Special Warfare leadership forward. The plan will look at ways to provide more capability when it’s needed and less when it’s not.
Our intent is to provide a tailored, synergized force to operational commanders with priority missions.
"The Navy, Marine Corps, and USSOCOM are full partners in the development of the plan, which will ensure that we receive inputs from all the potential operational commanders about what the roles and missions that we’re expected to execute will be, so that we will be properly trained and equipped. There’s no specific timeline for execution of the strategic plan, but we’re moving it forward as quickly as we can."
Increased forward basing of joint SOF proposed by USSOCOM: "Our NSW forces are already forward-based in every geographic theater. We have a permanent presence with our Naval Special Warfare Units under each of the theater CinCs. Those each have a headquarters, along with a SEAL platoon, a RIB detachment, and other NSW forces permanently assigned on a rotational basis. Joint SOF forward basing will further enhance interoperability and provide a more
capable and flexible package to forward operational commanders. Our community is in favor of it."
Personnel breakdown: "We have about 4,950 active personnel as well as just under 1,200 Reservists. Of the 4,950, about 850 are officers and 4,100 are enlisted personnel. The officers include about 400 SEALs and 450 non-SEAL officers assigned to the command. Of the enlisted, about 2,100 are SEALs and
SEAL-qualified [medical] corpsmen, just over 500 are combatant craft crewmen, and about 1,500 are fleet support technicians. A little over 200 of our 4,950 total
personnel are SDV- or dry-deck shelter-qualified."
NSW Surface Warfare Combatant Crewman (SWCC) enlisted specialty: "It’s been a great success. We’re already seeing its positive effects in helping retain qualified boat crewmen in the NSW community. We’re in our second year of ‘closed-loop detailing,’ in which we control the detailing process for those people. Some personnel will spend 100 percent of their careers in our community, but 100 percent recycling of all personnel is not necessarily our goal. What we want to do
is to reach the point where multiple tours in Naval Special Warfare are the norm, but with enough non-NSW assignments to sustain an environment of fresh thought and to help achieve our recruiting goals. Frankly, our best recruiting of SWCC personnel comes from members of our community who are back doing tours with the
Navy and send the best of the sailors they meet our way."
Naval Small Craft Instruction and Technical Training School reestablished in Mississippi from Panama in October 1999: "What NAVSCIATTS
[pronounced nav-skee-otts] does is provide technical training to the navies and coast guards of friendly nations under the SOF core mission area of foreign internal
defense [FID]. The instruction covers how to operate and maintain small naval vessels. The new location in Mississippi provides us quality training areas with its proximity to unique river and coastal areas and also permits us to accept students from non-Latin American countries, such as those in the Pacific Rim or sub-Saharan Africa—something we couldn’t do when the school was located in Panama."
FID training by NSW personnel around the world: "It is typically done at either the squad or platoon level when it involves SEALs and at the boat detachment level when it involves one of our Special Boat Units. We also conduct FID training aboard our Patrol Coastal [PC] ships. We’re engaged worldwide. In the past year, we conducted 32 missions in 24 countries in every geographic theater."
Retention problem involving SEAL lieutenants: "We’re still having difficulty, but the situation is better than it was. The problem reached a high point about three
years ago, when 36 lieutenants resigned. In Fiscal Year ‘98, we lost 31. In Fiscal Year ‘99, the number was down to 16, and we forecast losing about 15 this year.
So we’ve made great strides. Part of it has simply been a greater emphasis on retention, particularly by my predecessor, R. Adm. Tom Richards. We believe that the recent pay increases that were approved by Congress will be helpful.
"Our retention of lieutenants and the mid-grade enlisted personnel who are the focus of our effort remains higher than that of other Navy warfighting communities, but
retention still remains a great concern for us. In fact, because of our structure, which requires a higher percentage of senior leadership, we have different retention
needs than those other communities.
"A Special Warfare Officer Continuation Pay bonus was just approved. It is targeted at NSW officers with 6 to 14 years of service, and provides them a $6,000 bonus to continue one year, $8,000 per year for a 3-year commitment, and $10,000 per year for a commitment of 4 or more years, up through their 14th year of service. We think that will give us an additional retention boost.
"Our enlisted retention has remained fairly steady over time, but neither our enlisted retention nor our recruiting are as high as we would like. There have been some
recent pay changes on the enlisted side, including the authorization of additional hazardous duty pay and an increase in the cap for reenlistment bonuses, that we
anticipate will have a positive effect.
"We understand that increased pay won’t necessarily keep all our good people, but failure to pay them what they’re worth will cause some to seek more stability
and greater pay elsewhere. The real key to retention in this community is providing a sense of mission, pride, and camaraderie—elements that we are uniquely suited
to provide. So we are focusing our recruiting and retention efforts on those areas, with pay an additional factor."
Navy mine countermeasures missions: "We have always been responsible for locating and clearing obstacles from the three-and-a-half fathom line—from the 21-foot depth into the beach. Doctrinally that has not changed. But we have a very limited capability to address mines located in that region. The larger Navy has a
very limited capability to conduct mine countermeasures inside of 40 feet of depth, because of the surface assets that they use to do that.
"So what we have done is to contribute significantly to a Navy-Marine Corps detachment that has been established here in Coronado, CA to develop effective,
very-shallow-water mine countermeasures capabilities inside the 40-foot curve. The detachment has a SEAL commander, but its 100 personnel are one-third NSW, one-third Explosive Ordnance Disposal, and one-third Marine Corps. They are evaluating new technology solutions to the very-shallow-water mine countermeasures [VSW-MCM] problem. The ultimate goal is to eliminate the requirement to put a man in the minefield altogether, but we’re some time away from
reaching that goal."
Closer working relationship with Marines: "We’re probably working closer with them than ever before. The Navy’s emphasis on littoral warfare has revalidated what Naval Special Warfare has always done, which is to treat the littoral not just as a piece of geography that we have to cross to get to the objective area, but as an objective area in and of itself. We continue to work closely with the Marines in and across the littoral and continue to deploy with them on each Amphibious Ready Group, ready to support the ARG’s embarked MEU-SOC [Marine Expeditionary Unit-Special Operations Capable]. The VSW-MCM effort has partnered
us with the Marines in that area, and the increased emphasis, particularly in Latin America, on warfare in the riverine environment has created another dialogue with
the Marine Corps to better define roles and missions, so that we’re neither leaving gaps nor stepping on each other’s toes in that environment."
The Navy’s 13 (170-foot-long) Patrol Coastal (PC) ships: "They have been an unqualified success. They’ve crossed the ocean to serve in every theater. They are well received and well employed by the forward operational commanders. They are able to go where other Navy ships can’t go. The SEALs and Special Boat detachments have found them to be flexible and capable mother ships. The Navy and the joint operational commanders overseas have used them in key roles,
including both wartime and peacetime operations. Their record of performance is impressive by every measure. They’ve been particularly effective in counterdrug
operations in support of US Southern Command. Unfortunately, due to budget constraints, there is a programmed drawdown of the PC ships from 13 to 7 over
several years beginning in Fiscal Year ‘02.
"The PCs have been great for our community. They have provided a relationship with the Navy surface warfare community that’s very important to us [they are manned by fleet sailors and surface warfare officers], as well as great operational flexibility for our SEALs."
Mark V (82-foot) Special Operations Craft: "The [air-transportable] Mk V has been a great platform for us. It has given us a significant improvement in our medium-range SEAL insertion, extraction, and support capabilities. It is particularly effective in relatively closed areas, such as the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean, where it can reach out from a shore base to strike objective areas. But it has proven effective worldwide."
New 11-meter NSW Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat (RHIB): "To date, a total of 44 have been delivered of an inventory objective of 70. We recently validated the Maritime Craft Air Delivery System for the 11-meter RHIB, which allows us to air-drop it. It’s a cradle system that separates from the hull upon exit from the aircraft; the craft lands on its own hull and the cradle system lands separately. We will be deploying that capability within the next few months, beginning in the
European theater."
The Advanced SEAL Delivery System (ASDS)—a new, air-transportable, small (65-foot) submarine: "The first hull is in the water. In October, it began shallow-water testing at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, MD. Upon completion of that testing, it will be flown out to Hawaii for deep-water testing in January or February [2000]. We anticipate that it will join the fleet within a year. A second ASDS will be funded in Fiscal Year ‘03 and a third one in Fiscal Year ‘05.
"The ASDS [April AFJI] is going to give us a capability unlike anything we’ve ever had. It will deliver SEALs warmer and drier with greater payload and speed over
longer distances than has been possible with [Mk VIII 22-foot wet submersible] SDVs, which expose SEALs to extremely cold sea water for several hours. I think
that once the ASDS becomes operational and shows its capability, it will be used for missions beyond the pure SEAL insertion/extraction role for which it was
originally designed. Four SSN-688 Los Angeles-class nuclear attack submarines will be modified to serve as ASDS host platforms. In addition, the third and final
Seawolf-class sub, SSN-23, will be fitted to host it, and at least six, and possibly all, New Attack Submarines will be ASDS-capable."
Mk VIII SDVs: "The ASDS will not totally replace our 10 Mk VIII SDVs. We will still retain SDVs to conduct specific missions that are just not suited for the
larger ASDS. All our Mk VIIIs have undergone a service life-extension program to the upgraded Mod 1 configuration, which is quieter and has twice the range and
50 percent higher top speed than the Mod 0. All our current dry-deck shelter-capable submarines are being decommissioned, but five SSN-688 submarines will be
modified to carry dry-deck shelters [DDS] for the SDVs. In terms of pure physical endurance, an SSN-DDS-SDV whole mission profile that can extend six to 10
hours is the toughest mission we do."
Counterproliferation mission: "We’re still defining what our roles and missions in counterproliferation [of weapons of mass destruction] are. At this point, they
certainly include the ability to operate in a contaminated environment to the limit of the protective equipment we’ve been provided, and we are training hard to that
level."
Priorities: "My top priority is to retain the quality of our NSW forces through training, retention, and recruiting. We are still a people-oriented community, and one
of our mantras is, ‘We don’t equip the man, we man the equipment.’ Second, we are striving for ways to better organize and synergize our forces, as I said, to more
effectively provide the warfighting capabilities that operational commanders require. And third, we continue to push technology advances to ensure that we give our people the best equipment that we can."