Sea Power and MaritimeSea Power and Maritime Affairs Affairs

Lesson 22: The Navy at War in the 1990s, 1991-2000

Learning ObjectivesLearning Objectives The student will understand the history and build-up to

NATO involvement in Bosnia and Kosovo. The student will understand the Navy’s role in those wars,

especially in terms of increasingly integrated joint concepts of operations.

The student will understand how the wars in Bosnia and Kosovo have tested and developed the practice of network-centric warfare.

The student will understand relevant historical milestones in U.S. Naval history in the 1990s and their implication for the post-September 11 reality.

Strategic Implications Strategic Implications Post-Cold WarPost-Cold War

July 31, 1991, START I.September 27,1991, President Bush

announced Soviets no longer pose creditable threat to the U.S.– SAC bombers off 24-hour alert.– Removed all tactical nukes from Navy surface,

sub and aircraft.

Soviet CollapseSoviet CollapseDecember 8, 1991December 8, 1991

Boris Yelstin elected President after Soviet collapse. He was re-elected in 1996 and resigned in December of 1999, due to health.

Successor of states: Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, and Belarus. Ukraine and Kazakhstan became the third and fourth largest nuclear states.– Russia joined U.S. in NPT– U.S. and Russia found themselves “comrades in

arms” to prevent uncontrolled nuclear weapons in former Soviet Union, North Korea, Pakistan, and India.

Boris Yeltsin, President of the Russian Republic, George and Barbara Bush, and the Bush dogs on the White House lawn.  Bush supported Yeltsin's efforts to transform Russia into a post-communist regime

William Clinton defeats President Bush, Sr. in 1992 Election

The Balkan Conflicts of the The Balkan Conflicts of the 1990s1990s

BosniaKosovo

BosniaBosnia

Post-Soviet Union collapse; four of the six Yugoslavian republics want independence.

Serbian President Milosevic uses force to oppose these states.

This situation will require the assistance of U.S. and U.N. troops for over a decade.

BOSNIA

19911991June 27June 27. Fighting starts in Slovenia, spreading to

Croatia.November 8November 8. Europe places economic blockade on

Yugoslavia.

19921992

U.N. Security Council directive to use “all measures necessary” to end hunger and atrocities in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

JanuaryJanuary. U.N. protection force sent.May 22May 22. U.N. recognizes Croatia,

Slovenia, and Bosnia as independent states.

March 30March 30. U.N. called for humanitarian aid, economic embargos, and ban on air traffic.

July 1July 1. Washington called for relief flights that would be multinational and be supported until OPERATION DENY FLIGHT in April 1993.

September 22. September 22. Yugoslavia expelled from U.N. in response to Milosevic’s atrocities.

NATO leaders reluctant to act, for fear that they would be dragged into a costly and unwinnable war.

19931993NATO military operations largely limited to enforcing NATO military operations largely limited to enforcing

U.N. no fly zone. Becomes largest ongoing military U.N. no fly zone. Becomes largest ongoing military operation over Europe since WWII.operation over Europe since WWII.

April 12April 12. OPERATION DENY FLIGHT. NFZ over Bosnia.

June 15June 15. OPERATION SHARP GUARD. Adriatic blockade.

Toward a Network-Centric Toward a Network-Centric BattlespaceBattlespace

For the first time it was clear that virtually all targets were moveable.

Joint Combined Air Operations Center (CAOC) established in Aviano, Italy.

Key U.S. Sensor AssetsKey U.S. Sensor Assets

UAV (Predators and Gnat-750s) P-3C Orion E-2C Hawkeye, AWACS (E-3) JSTARS (E-8A) EC-130E (ABCCC)

Air DoctrineAir DoctrineBosnian mission seemed to be classic Close

Air Support (CAS)

HOWEVER,

The point of NATO air power was to coerce Serbs without engaging a ground force. How could targets be effectively identified in future wars with similar missions without ground element support?

Anticipates RTIC.

RTIC- “Real Time in the Cockpit”RTIC- “Real Time in the Cockpit”

CAOC receives targeting intelligence (e.g., via UAV)

Target is fused with stored area imagery and sent to strike aircraft via data link.

Cockpit display shows imagery as well as CAS nine-line targeting brief.

An important step toward network-centric reality, RTIC was a reality by 1996. F-16s were outfitted with data modems for RTIC imagery.

19941994

Standoff between NATO aircraft and Bosnian Serb air defenses continued through the year.

U.N. mounted a ground force “protection force,” UNPROFOR, intended to deter “ethnic cleansing” by Serbian Army.

Generally Serbs called UNPROFOR’s bluff only to receive retaliation via air attack.

Evolution of network-centric Evolution of network-centric strike conceptsstrike concepts

August-September NATO strikes were similar in concept to Gulf War: pre-planned against fixed targets (vice mobile ones).

However, strikes

involved a valuable

new precision weapon:

the GPS-guided

Tomahawk missile.

19951995August 30- September 21August 30- September 21. OPERATION

DELIBERATE FORCE. NATO bombing offensive.

December 14December 14. Dayton Accords. Ended war in Bosnia. Milosevic still in power.

Politically, contributed to Muslim fundamentalism.

- Reported in Muslim world as a “holocaust”

KosovoKosovo

19981998June 14June 14. OPERATION DETERMINED FALCON.

March 24- June 10March 24- June 10. War breaks in Kosovo, former Yugoslav republic at least under nominal Serbian control. OPERATION DENY FORCE.

19991999

OPERATION DENY FORCEOPERATION DENY FORCE

Response to “ethic cleansing” started shortly after Dayton Accords

Planned as a 48 hour campaign, it would last 78 days.

This time no UNPROFOR (organic ground element)

OPERATION DENY FORCE (cont.)OPERATION DENY FORCE (cont.)

As in Bosnia, Serbs used mobility to protect air defense system

- No ground observers to direct targeting- U.S./NATO policy barring all troops

might be blamed for tactical failure of air attacks (a mistake NOT repeated in Afghanistan)

The political-strategic strikes seemed not to have been terribly effective.

- Center of gravity attacks?- Was there a way to force the enemy to move in a way to produce lucrative targets?

After 78 days of bombing, After 78 days of bombing, Serbian Army collapsed and Serbian Army collapsed and evacuated; refugees returned evacuated; refugees returned

to their province.to their province.

Why?Why?

Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA)Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA)KLA began operating against Serbian units

toward the end of the war.To counter the KLA, Serbian units had to

mass, CREATING TARGETS.

Interpretation:Interpretation:

Precision bombing became effective only when linked to a force on the ground—and that force did not have to be a NATO army.

-Here the KLA functions as a coalition force.

-Neither NATO nor KLA had much chance of winning without the other.

This suggested a model for future This suggested a model for future wars (i.e., Afghanistan)wars (i.e., Afghanistan)

Always seek a local coalition partner sufficiently interested in the outcome to fight as needed, in order to get “boots on the ground.”

Caveat: coalition partners are not proxies; they are animated by their own interests.

““Other” 1990s Naval EventsOther” 1990s Naval Events

1.1. September 1991September 1991. Tailhook2.2. April 1993April 1993. SECDEF announces that women

will fly combat aircraft missions and serve on combat vessels.

3.3. July 1993July 1993. “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” – Clinton policy for homosexuals in the military.

4.4. February 1994February 1994. LT Shannon Workman becomes first female carrier qualified fighter pilot.

5.5. February 1998February 1998. A Marine Corps EA-6B, based in Aviano, Italy, flies below low level training route altitude and severs gondola cables killing civilians.

6.6. October 1994October 1994. LT Kara Hultgreen, first woman carrier qualified in the F-14 Tomcat, is killed during landing operations.

7.7. March 1995March 1995. LCDR Wendy Lawrence, daughter of Admiral Lawrence (Vietnam POW), becomes first female naval aviator in space on board STS 60, The Endeavor.

Gondola wreckage from EA-6B

Lt. Kara Spears 'Revlon' Hultgreen (1965-1994)

8. May 1996May 1996. Death of Admiral Michael Boorda. Chief of Naval Operations shoots himself in response to journalistic investigations of his entitlement to wear combat “V” for service in waters off Vietnam.

9. October 2000October 2000. Attack on the USS Cole.

10. February 2001February 2001. Greenville incident.

11. April 2001April 2001. EP-3 incident.

CDR Wendy Lawrence, U.S. Navy

Admiral Jeremy M. Boorda, U.S. Navy

USS Cole damage

EP-3 crewmembers stand at ease during the ceremony welcoming them to Hawaii following their release from China

PolicyPolicyNew TechnologyNew Technology

September 1992September 1992. “…From the Sea.” The Navy adopts new mission as consequence to the end of the Cold War.

September 1993September 1993. “Bottom Up Review” 346-ship navy with 11 carrier battle groups. Goal: Ability to fight 2 major regional conflicts and one low intensity conflict at the same time.

May 1997May 1997. As result of first “Quadrennial Defense Reviews,” force levels to be able to deal with two simultaneous regional conflicts call for 12 carriers groups and 12 amphibious ready groups.

June 1997June 1997. Navy signs preliminary agreement for construction of the DD-21 Zumwalt class.

May 1999May 1999. Osprey, MV-22, first of four production models approved.

September 1999September 1999. New attack sub (NSSN) “Virginia” class to be built.

April 2000April 2000. MV-22 crashes in Arizona; 19 lost.

December 2000December 2000. MV-22 crashes in Jacksonville, killing all four crewmen.

December 2000December 2000. JSF X-35C, carrier version, makes first flight.

March 2000March 2000. Mrs. Reagan christens USS Ronald Reagan, CVN 76.

June 2001. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld reports that DD21 land-attack destroyer would not be a substantial improvement over existing platforms.

MV-22 OSPREYX-35 JSF

Significance of the 1990s for Significance of the 1990s for the Navy of the Futurethe Navy of the Future

Comprehend the transitional nature of the naval strategy and policy in the 1990s when judged against the post “9-11” events and the War on Terrorism.

Understand that many of the guiding assumptions of the 1990s were made obsolete by 9-11 and the War on Terrorism.

Assess what aspects of the naval policy and strategy of the 1990s remain valid for the early 2000s.

Given the events of the last decade (ESGs, sea-basing, etc.), was the planning of the 1990s short-sighted? Is “From the Sea” relevant in 2001 when we are fighting a war hundreds of miles inland in Afghanistan? Is the CVBG a relic of the cold war in the age of network-centric dispersion?

Learning ObjectivesLearning Objectives Comprehend the national strategic implications of

the Post Cold War and its effects on policy and the Navy.

Comprehend the role of the Navy in regional conflicts, including Post-Gulf War Iraq, Yugoslavia, Somalia, and Afghanistan.

Comprehend the changes in Naval policy and technology, as well as historical 1990s milestones.

Next time: The Navy at War in Afghanistan, Operation Enduring Freedom

2000-2003