A Persistent, Effective, and Affordable Global Fleet Station Concept

This paper will examine the Global Fleet Station (GFS) concept, first proposed in the Naval Operations Concept 2006 and implemented since then through a variety of US Navy (USN) and US Coast Guard (USCG) humanitarian assistance and foreign military training cruises. First, we will explore GFS missions, and the capability and materiel requirements that are derived from them. Next, relying on lessons learned from recent USN and USCG GFS and GFS-type cruises, and preliminary analysis of 20 US and foreign vessels potentially suitable for GFS missions, this paper will argue that to effectively implement GFS in a persistent, distributed, and affordable manner, greater attention must be given to ships specially built or modified for the mission, complemented by dual-use legacy ships used as necessary in augmentation roles. It is important to recognize that emerging GFS requirements differ greatly from requirements for ships built for major combat operations, but that the resulting cost savings actually make this a cost-effective and operationally effective trade-off for the USN.