by Chief Petty Officer (SW/AW) Mark Piggott
Plots Course
SUBMARINE FORCE COMMANDER
FOR
Future
In a message to his commanders and commanding officers, Vice Adm. Chuck Munns, Commander Naval Submarine Forces, in Norfolk, Va., reflected on the future of the force and looked back at the great strides made by submariners. “We are 21st-century American submariners,” Munns said. “The past year has been one of successfully employing submarines in all corners of the globe to combat the global war on terrorism, to conduct intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, to deliver special operations forces, and to ‘walk the field’ in our key forward operating areas.” With submarines responsible for over one third of the Tomahawk strikes delivered during Operation Iraqi Freedom, Vice Adm. Munns sees the force as an added bonus to strike commanders in forwarddeployed operations. “Our ever-smaller
and better-connected world is often driven by what seems small and insignificant,” he said. “But small, local, and tactical actions can have large, enterprise-wide, strategic effects.” “The capability that we bring to our national defense is more relevant today than ever. Our ships and crews bring unique value in forward areas and in the pre-hostility phase of combat.” Munns noted that a major part of that capability is the ability to support joint, interagency, and coalition operations and introducing systems that achieve interoperability with these warfighters. “We can ill afford isolated, stand-alone systems, unable to connect directly to other forces at the tactical and operational level,” he stated. “These systems will quite simply drive us out of business. “They invariably will force us to speak a language not understood by our partners - rendering
(left) Vice Adm. Chuck Munns delivers remarks after assuming command of COMNAVSUBFOR.
“The capability that we bring to our national defense is more relevant today than ever. Our ships and crews bring unique value in forward areas and in the prehostility phase of combat.” 4
S U M M E R 2 0 0 5 U N D E R S E A WA R F A R E
