The U.S. military unveiled a new maritime strategy Wednesday - its first created jointly by the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard - shifting from a narrow focus on sea combat toward one that also emphasizes the use of "soft power" to counter terrorism and deliver humanitarian assistance.

The strategy, shaped by the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and the wars that followed, stresses preventing conflict as much as winning wars, and recognizes that no one nation can secure the world's waters against terrorism and other threats.

Adm. Gary Roughead, chief of naval operations; Gen. James Conway, Marine Corps commandant; and Adm. Thad Allen, Coast Guard commandant, presented the strategy Wednesday to maritime leaders from more than 100 other countries at a symposium at Newport, R.I.

The new approach marks a stark departure from the last U.S. maritime strategy, conceived by the Navy in the 1980s, which focused heavily on offensive operations against the then-Soviet Union.

"Soft power, the humanitarian and economic efforts, have been elevated to the same level as high-end naval warfare," said a senior Navy official, who like others spoke on condition of anonymity.

The 16-page document was developed over two years and outlines six imperatives. These include the traditional missions of concentrating major combat forces in the Persian Gulf, Indian Ocean and Western Pacific to deter or fight potential conflicts. Protecting vital sea lanes represents a growing priority, it said, as sea-borne trade has more than quadrupled over the last four decades and now accounts for 90 percent of all international commerce and two-thirds of global petroleum trade.

In addition, the strategy calls for dispersing smaller maritime teams to carry out humanitarian missions as well as to counter terrorism, weapons proliferation, piracy and other illicit maritime activities - partly to contain local threats before they can reach the United States. These teams, which would integrate Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard forces, would deploy to areas such as Africa and the western hemisphere to promote closer cooperation with maritime forces in other nations.

To implement the strategy, sailors, Marines and Coast Guard personnel would be dispatched on a wide variety of ships as "force packages" able to conduct security missions, serve as mobile training teams or to perform humanitarian, legal or reconstruction work.

Some critics said the strategy does not go far enough toward creating a seamless U.S. maritime force able to coordinate closely with other nations to protect the United States and international waters.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/10/18/MNB8SRHFT.DTL

This article appeared on page A - 4 of the San Francisco Chronicle