Asia Looks Seaward

The Third Fleet’s area of responsibilityincludesapproximatelyfiftymillion

square miles of the eastern and northern Pacific Ocean, including the Bering

Sea. Major SLOCs (sea lines of communication) in this area are critically impor-

tant to the conduct of trade and transportation of energy resources throughout

thePacificRimregion,andfigureprominentlyinthefleet’shomelanddefense

mission.

The Third Fleet is also responsible for deterring conflict and carrying out

sustained combat operations at sea under the U.S. maritime strategy in the

Pacific. This includes defending the western sea approaches to the United States

and commanding joint U.S. forces deployed in response to a specific event or

contingency in its area of responsibility.

The Seventh Fleet, the Third Fleet’s counterpart in the western Pacific, is the

largest of the navy’s forward-deployed fleets.^36 Some forty to fifty ships, two

hundred aircraft, and twenty thousand navy and marine personnel usually fall

under its operational control, including forces based in Japan and Guam, as well

as those deploying from the Third Fleet. These Pacific Fleet forces operate in the

Pacific and Indian oceans, including the Persian Gulf, supporting three principal

elements of U.S. maritime strategy: deterrence, forward defense, and alliance

solidarity.

Commander, Seventh Fleet is specifically responsible for three missions: first,

service as joint task force commander in the event of a natural disaster or joint

military operation; second, service as operational commander for all naval forces

in the region; and finally, service as the combined naval component commander

for the defense of the Korean Peninsula. In the event of hostilities, accordingly,

this officer would command all assigned naval forces.

The Legal Dimension

The age-old connection between commerce and naval power continues to

shape American policy toward open access to the world’s oceans and seas.

Post–9/11 exigencies have amended this paradigm by bringing the linkage

between maritime power and homeland defense to the fore. Freedom of naviga-

tion has long been a principle of U.S. maritime strategy. Thomas Jefferson

was among the first to insist on free passage through the world’s waterways.

This principle is now codified in the 1992 UNCLOS (UN Convention on the

Law of the Sea). Although the U.S. Congress has not ratified UNCLOS,

American maritime forces abide by its precepts.

UNCLOS lays out four primary maritime zones of interest. All are measured

in nautical miles from the coast of each nation bordering the sea. The first of

these, the territorial sea, extends 12 nautical miles from the coast. The coastal

nation enjoys full rights of sovereignty in this zone. The second, the contiguous

zone, extends 24 nautical miles from the coast and provides lesser but still

64 Asia Looks Seaward