The American Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean has long been a ghost fleet. Sixth Fleet now controls all American ships in European waters. Is it time to restore a Mediterranean presence?
After the Cold War, the once massive American 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea disappeared. Except for a command ship the fleet just had transiting warships on the way to CENTCOM or on the way home. Their presence kept alive the image of a powerful fleet. And when Sixth Fleet was expanded to cover all of European waters, the small American naval presence even outside of the Mediterranean enhanced that image whenever the fleet number was mentioned.
Still, I have no problem with this situation. Something has to give to face threats with a smaller Navy. The Mediterranean Sea was the logical post-Cold War place to take the hit. I believe NATO navies in the Mediterranean Sea can handle the Russian naval threat there. American help would be for filling capabilities gaps.
As the threat of a wider war in Europe became apparent because Russia invaded Ukraine, this idea of forward deploying a Forward Deployed Naval Force in the Mediterraneans Sea to deploy a multi-mission MEU is worth pondering:
A FDNF for the tri-combatant command region of EuCom, CentCom, and AfriCom of the eastern Mediterranean Sea offers a host of advantages.
A forward deployed force would allow it to refit at that forward base and avoid transit time from the United States to maximize time at sea, allowing it to cover more area. If land-based Marines using airlift are not the answer to amphibious ship shortages because host countries have a veto on deployment, is this the answer?
But if the Navy wants to expand Marine amphibious groups despite a lack of traditional warships, the Navy might want to consider The AFRICOM Queen model I proposed for the Army, in Military Review.
If a sea-based Marine element is needed, even a forward deployed amphibious force would require transiting warships for support for combat missions. And maybe a standing force is needed in a dangerous neighborhood.
But China must be the primary focus of the United States Navy. Anything devoted to the Mediterranean must be to leverage and gather European NATO naval forces that are more than sufficient to defeat the Russian navy. Could NATO regional navies provide the escort for such a forward deployed amphibious force while it is in the Mediterranean Sea?
This is an interesting proposal to make up for lost amphibious assets that won't be rebuilt as the Navy is refocused on sea control in the face of China's military build up. And it does have the ability to shift between the combatant commands in close proximity.
But I have concerns that it is too far from the most needed region of Europe--the Baltic Sea, where islands and littorals could use a small but powerful amphibious force. If America is going to reinforce its European naval presence, I'd rather have the FDNF devoted to the North Sea and Baltic Sea.
That doesn't address CENTCOM and AFRICOM, however, which is the point of the article. But maybe a FDNF Queen for AFRICOM and CENTCOM would work, leaving the proposed FDNF for a northern Europe focus.
[NOTE: I continue to update this post with war news and analysis.]
