President's Commentary: The Tyranny of Distance Confronts the Navy and Marine Corps

The sea services of a maritime nation are vital to its national security, and no nation’s sea services are responsible for a greater area of operations than those of the United States. Flanked by the world’s two largest oceans that it can no longer hide behind, the United States faces peer rivals that pose challenges to the United States and threats to the international norms from all directions. The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps are modernizing their operations and equipment to confront this new threat, but they face a diverse set of challenges that continue to change as technologies and capabilities evolve.

All modern militaries rely extensively on communications and networking for successful operations. But for the sea services, the tyranny of distance virtually mandates it as an underpinning of the force. Digital connectivity is essential for the Navy and Marines to operate over vast areas, and that digital connectivity is threatened increasingly by a host of adversaries.

Protecting that connectivity is essential. The well-developed networks linking our forces are under constant onslaught by peer adversaries. These activities can take the form of denial, deception or espionage. And any of these could be deadly to the force.

When I served on the Joint Staff, data veracity was a key priority. What if the Navy was executing an exercise and the fleet formation was not where they were reported? Trust in the data is critical. This is a challenge faced by all the services, but for the Navy, it is particularly acute with its large operational areas.

The Navy is more at risk now through cyberspace than it ever has been through conventional kinetic means in the past. The kinetic challenge has not gone away—China and Russia are hard at work developing new types of weapons to use against our fleet—but the digital threat has the potential to neutralize or even cause the destruction of naval forces over a large area. We know that both nations have been successful in their efforts to purloin vital information over Navy networks. In addition to protecting our sailors and Marines, we must protect our data.

When we stood up the U.S. Cyber Command, the Navy was a leader in seizing the initiative in the cyber realm. It has continued that action, and that work is among the secretary of the Navy’s priorities in his strategic guidance issued in October. When he calls for “maintaining maritime dominance in defense of our nation,” he cites efforts to innovate and modernize elements such as artificial intelligence and cyber weapons, among others. “We will treat information as a strategic asset and make cybersecurity a top priority, increasing our lethality, improving readiness and sustaining resilience in cyberspace,” Secretary Carlos Del Toro declares.

And the Marine Corps is undergoing a landmark transformation that is part of the secretary’s vision. It is returning to its roots as a maritime land combat force operating in concert with the Navy, and it will be relying as much on cyberspace dominance. It will be part of the expanded forward presence that can provide sustained, persistent mobile operations forward, as envisioned by the secretary.

Yet technology capabilities are only part of the solution. Training reigns above all, as Navy and Marine personnel must be able to continue to operate in a disconnected environment. Sailors and Marines also must be able to trust their data as they go forward. Every sailor and Marine is a cyber warrior responsible for the protection of our information, as are other service members. With multidomain operations defining the new force, the roles of each of the players in the battlespace must be supported, and the data they use must be trusted information.

The Navy and Marine Corps are steaming full speed ahead in their transformation into a force that can counter enemy threats worldwide. The one realm that can overcome the tyranny of distance confronting the force is cyberspace, which is a dimensionless domain. Both services are striving for that to become an American-dominated realm regardless of enemy action. And that may be the key to future force supremacy.