Finneran: A Two-Ocean Navy
Friday, September 20, 2019
PHOTO: Joseph Holmes/Flickr Commons
Truth be told, these recent storms are not novel events.
Hurricanes have pummeled the coasts of Mexico and America for hundreds if not thousands of years. The many and varied islands of the Caribbean bear the scars of repeated devastation.
And while weather satellites and modern forecasting can help foretell the likely path of such storms, there is nothing in modern science which can actually prevent the formation, the power, and the resultant destruction of these awful events.
Storm shutters and plywood only go so far in mitigation of the horrors. Mandatory evacuations can certainly save lives, but a family’s return to a flattened homestead and a devastated countryside gives no relief to the pressing need for food, water, medicine, and shelter.
A thought occurs---might we build upon American prestige and goodwill by having a two-ocean, two task Navy moving nimbly upon storm ravaged coasts, delivering the essentials for survival? Launch a Peace and Goodwill Navy alongside the war Navy.
The most urgent tasks in the aftermath of Nature’s fiercest storms are the clearance of roads and the restoration of electricity. Here comes the Navy, with bulldozers and generators, with road graders and helicopters, with young, strong, smart Americans, doing what Americans do best---helping others.
Here comes the Navy with water distillation equipment. Here comes the Navy with medical equipment. Here comes the Navy with doctors and nurses. Here comes the navy with formula for infants, with food for children, with medicines for the sick, and with water for all. In Horatio Nelson’s immortal phrase, “The Navy is here”! Except the Navy in this instance is the United States Navy.
And the truth is that only the United States has the wealth and the technical ability to pull off these life-saving missions wherever they occur. The typhoons of the Pacific Ocean are the deadly twin brothers of the Atlantic’s hurricanes, simply bearing a different name. So too the monsoons of the Indian Ocean. Thus the need for a two-ocean capacity.
The common denominator in all these horrific events is the desperation of human beings barely clinging to a suddenly frightening and fragile life. Let them see American kindness. Let them see American masts on the horizon, like an ocean cavalry racing to the rescue. Let them see the strong backs and biceps of kids from Massachusetts and Ohio and Kansas. And let those kids see from afar, as only travel and distance can so clearly illuminate, how fortunate they themselves are to live in America.
A highly mobile two-ocean Navy would advance our diplomatic opportunities. Such a Navy would project both American power and prestige. Such a Navy would provide great opportunities for America’s youth to see the world, to acquire knowledge, to discern their interests, and to advance their skills. Our global interests are not solely dependent on rockets and bombs and guns. We need not forfeit hard power for soft power. One goes hand in hand with the other, with each playing a part on the world stage.
Let the world see America at its best.
God’s work awaits.
Put the fleets to sea.
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