Challenges to the U.S. military advantage represent another shift in the global security environment. For decades, the United States has enjoyed uncontested or dominant superiority in every operating domain. We could generally deploy our forces when we wanted, assemble them where we wanted, and operate how we wanted. Today, every domain — air, land, sea, space, and cyberspace — is contested, and this fact translates directly into how the shore Navy establishment must evolve to support the combat capability of operational units.
Our contribution to “the Navy our nation needs,” as the Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. John Richardson, often says, begins with our ability to deliver effective support to the war-fighter. The fundamental mission of every Navy Region is to enable persistent maritime operations to deter and counter disruptive countries, defeat violent extremism, and promote a secure maritime environment by providing the support of secure airfields, bases and port facilities, fuel, armaments and life support to sea, air, undersea,land and special operations forces. Navy installations around the globe remain the critical enabler of naval,joint and partner nation forces to operate forward to deter conflict and, if necessary, fight and win.
The National Security Strategy outlines a critical modernization plan for our armed forces. Modernization is not defined solely by hardware; it requires change in the ways we organize and employ forces. For the shore Navy, this means evolving the way we operate to match the environment we now operate in.
The environment in which NREURAFCENT operates is shaped by external factors not typically found in the CONUS Navy Installations Command enterprise. Infrastructure requirements and lines of operation are driven by, and in certain cases restrained by, formal agreements between the United States and the nations that host U.S. Navy installations, their tenants, and assigned and rotational forces.
To support COCOM priorities, NREURAFCENT delivers five key shore missions, plus the services and utilities to support them. These services and utilities are grouped under a sixth mission area called Core.
Air Operations: Manage airfield and aviation support operations to enable operational missions in the following areas: airfield administration, station aircraft, air traffic control, ground electronics, airfield facilities, passenger terminal and cargo handling services.
Port Operations: Conduct port facility support operations, including embarkation and/or debarkation activities in support of port visits by U.S. and Allied warships and support vessels.
Security: Safeguard personnel and prevent unauthorized access to equipment, installations, materiel and documents to protect against espionage, sabotage, damage, and theft.
Safety: The safety mission is to protect the force from accidental death, injury, or occupational illness through the effective application of risk management strategies in Emergency Management, Fire and Emergency Services, and Environmental Safety to prevent or mitigate the loss of mission capability and resources, both on and off duty.
Quality of Life: Housing provides safe and adequate transient and permanent housing to service members, civilians, and their families ensuring our war-fighters remain on station. Morale, Welfare, and Recreation manages the galleys, child development centers, and other recreational and social programs to ensure readiness, morale, unit cohesion, and quality of life for our war-fighters. Through Fleet and Family Support we implement self-resilience programs that strengthen the military family, support mission readiness, and facilitate a strong community network of services through community outreach and partnerships.
Core: Enable the backbone functions to fulfill operational and administrative mission requirements such as host nation relations, information technology services, power and water generation, base operating support (BOS) services, utilities, and fuel.
These lines of operation ashore are the key pillars that enable U.S., allied, and partner nation forces to be where they are needed and when they are needed to ensure security and stability in Europe, Africa, and Southwest Asia. The execution of these lines of operation and support for combat capability of operational units relies heavily on working together with key players including Naval Supply Systems Command/Fleet Logistics Center (NAVSUP/FLC), Navy Bureau of Medicine (BUMED), Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC), and our host-nation partners.
Navy installations are complex platforms designed to support and enhance war-fighter readiness from the shore, and the war-fighters’ success depends on the shore based contribution to the readiness equation. There is a growing gap between the Navy’s war-fighting mission and the resources available to accomplish that mission. The execution of these lines of operation means the shore becomes the critical enabler of naval, joint and partner nation forces.