The 1000-ship What?

In a recent NavyTimes article about the upcoming Maritime Strategy due to be unveiled at the International Seapower Symposium, the article ends with this interesting exchange.

Morgan refused to reveal what the new strategy will include, but he said that international partnerships will be integral to the new plan.

When asked how the concept of the “1,000-ship navy” would play into the new document, Morgan acknowledged that the concept would play a part. However, he said, “We are beginning to distance ourselves from that moniker.”

During an earlier panel discussion at the conference, Atlantic Monthly correspondent and author Robert Kaplan said that the 1,000-ship navy is really the “1,000-ship coast guard” and the concept is separate from the Navy’s other responsibilities, such as “classic power projection” from the sea.

Are you telling me the Big Blue Fleet has nothing in common with little nation navy? Who would have thought? The USCG has been training other small Navies for years, still does, and it has a lot more in common with nations dealing with maritime security issues on its own shore than the US Navy does, at least in modern history anyway. Clearly I think Robert Kaplan is playing the role of Captain Obvious, although I admit I'm a bit disappointed the Navy is willing to move away from a concept still very early in development and basically dump the concept on the coast guard.

TFN isn't a bad idea, it is just underdeveloped and not well resourced in practice. I also disagree the Navy is somehow the wrong service to be engaged, even if the USCG is a better match. At the end of the day, the prohibiting element for the Navy in the Thousand Ship Navy concept appears to me to be the Navy itself.