Sea Power and Maritime Affairs

1
Sea Power and Maritime Affairs

• Lesson 15.15 The Era of Retrenchment
  Presidents Ford and Carter, 1974-1980

2
Enabling Objectives

• Understand the U.S. Navy under President Gerald
  Ford and the political and economic factors that
  contributed to the viewpoint of President Jimmy
  Carter regarding the U.S. Navys role in military
  strategy and foreign affairs.
• Understand the evolution of strategic thinking
  and the defense policy during the Carter
  administration and the internal political factors
  influencing these policies.
• Comprehend the policy goals that preceded the
  President Ronald Reagan defense buildup and the
  internal political situation that enabled it.

3
President Gerald Ford (1974-1976)

• August 9, 1974
• - Nixon resigns

4
Watching South Vietnam Go Under

• Congress refused to fund 1 billion in
  military aid to South Vietnam, promised by Nixon.
• 30 April 1975 N. Vietnamese forces overran South
  Vietnam.
• South Vietnamese surrender.
• Operation Frequent Wind
• U.S. Embassy in Saigon evacuated
• 7th Fleet carriers evacuated
  almost 9,000 from Saigon.

5
Postwar Problems for U.S. Navy

• Impact of Vietnam
• Hiatus in shipbuilding
• Inadequate Funding
• High personnel costs
• Aging WWII fleet
• Skyrocketing procurement costs.
• Bigger, more sophisticated ships
• Push for Nuke power Admiral Rickover

6
Economic Inflation Technology Costs
Pre - Vietnam Post - Vietnam
Forrestal 350 million Nimitz 2 billion
F-4 Phantom 3 million F-14 Tomcat 23 million
Destroyer 50 million Spruance 350 million

• By 1975, the Navys 200th anniversary, the Navy
  had less than 500 ships.

7
Admiral Elmo Zumwalt

• CNO from 1 July 1970-1974
• Youngest CNO at 50
• High-Low Naval force.
• Proposal for four Nimitz class carriers.
• USS Nimitz commissioned in 1975.
• Aegis defense cruisers to defend the high valued
  carriers from anti-surface missiles.

8
Decline of the U.S. Navy Under President Carter
(1977-1981)

• Background
• Inherited popular antimilitary attitude
• Inherited a reduced Navy composed of older ships
• Diplomacy
• Believed containment could be achieved through
  diplomacy
• Did not think the Soviets were a world
  threat-just a threat to Europe.

9
The Carter Naval Policy

• The President did not support naval expansion.
• He de-emphasized the presence mission of the
  Navy.
• He limited the conceptual basis for the Navys
  size- Proposed a one ocean Navy.
• SLOC protection and support of the major U.S.
  commitments to Europe.

10
Iranian Hostage Crisis

• 1979, Anti-American Ayatollah Khomeini comes to
  power in Iran
• De-stabilizes the region for the U.S.
• Since 1953, U.S. imported in excess of 10.5
  million of arms sales to Iran.
• Operation Eagle Claw
• Failed rescue attempt of 52 Americans from
  embassy.
• USSR invades Afghanistan

11
Enabling Objectives

• Understand the U.S. Navy under President Gerald
  Ford and the political and economic factors that
  contributed to the viewpoint of President Jimmy
  Carter regarding the U.S. Navys role in military
  strategy and foreign affairs.
• Understand the evolution of strategic thinking
  and the defense policy during the Carter
  administration and the internal political factors
  influencing these policies.
• Comprehend the policy goals that preceded the
  President Ronald Reagan defense buildup and the
  internal political situation that enabled it.

12
Battle History Video

• Chapter 4 Second to None,
• Time 0000 - 1004.

13
Questions?
Next time The US Navy from the Maritime Strategy
to 9-11, 1981-2001