THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, May 30, 1995 TAG: 9505300043
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JACK DORSEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 97 lines
Thousands of miles apart, the Navy's Atlantic and Pacific fleets are beginning to close gaps that had left them rudderless when it came time to work together.
For decades, they operated in different worlds: the Atlantic Fleet, guided by NATO and its European influence; the Pacific Fleet, working with 45 countries, five mutual defense treaties and the ways of Asia.
They rarely met. They developed their own doctrines and their own training schedules. They used common radios, but they didn't talk the same language.
Some say they even wore their hair differently: The Pacific Fleet's was longer.
The two communities never had a problem until their paths began to cross, most recently in the Persian Gulf. It was unavoidable: Together, they account for most of the Navy's personnel and hardware - more than a quarter-million sailors, aviators and Marines, and nearly 400 ships and submarines - everything but the planners, thinkers and teachers at the Pentagon and other shore commands.
The men who command the fleets, Adm. William J. Flanagan Jr. in the Atlantic and Adm. Ronald J. Zlatoper in the Pacific, met with 15 other admirals in Norfolk last week and concluded the time has come for the fleets to work more closely together. The two-day coordinating conference, the second in nine months, was built on groundwork laid by fleet commanders four years ago as the Navy began slimming down.
``We thought maybe we could make some history by subrogating our personal egos to the good of the fleet,'' said Zlatoper, visiting Norfolk from his headquarters at Pearl Harbor.
Both admirals recall times when the two fleets had grown so far apart that they couldn't operate well once they came together.
Zlatoper recalled his first time aboard an Atlantic Fleet carrier in the Persian Gulf 14 years ago.
``We couldn't even talk to the (Pacific Fleet) ships that were in there because of differences,'' said Zlatoper.
By contrast, when Iraq threatened to invade Kuwait again last year and North Korea began sounding off as well, the Pacific Fleet suddenly had double duty to perform.
Zlatoper decided to split a carrier battle group of ships and personnel, sending the carrier Kitty Hawk and its escorts into the western Pacific and the Tripoli amphibious ready group of 2,000 Marines into the Persian Gulf. Those Marines had to work with the Atlantic Fleet carrier George Washington.
``They carried it off very successfully,'' said Zlatoper. ``There was no difference in procedures. It was seamless.''
As the Navy reduces in size from nearly 600 ships in the mid-1980s to about 350 by the turn of the century, the fleets will be called on to work together more, the two admirals agree.
It happened last last year, during the Haiti crisis. The Pacific Fleet cruiser Valley Forge showed up in the Caribbean by itself to lend a hand and spell some Atlantic Fleet crews who needed a rest.
There is still more to do on coordination, the admirals insist. The two fleets must use the same instructions, for example, in communications, inspections and maintenance.
They have been working to coordinate tasks as basic as how ships are put together in formations; what types of messages are exchanged; reports and the formats for those reports; and what contingencies to train for in preparing for sea.
A new tool they use is a 500-page document called the Tactical Training Strategy, which will allow sailors worldwide to stay atop of changes. The document, which will be put on a compact computer disk, will be updated frequently.
``It probably is the best single improvement to the fleet since I've been in it,'' said Flanagan.
The fleets already have made progress by standardizing such tasks as propulsion plant exams aboard ship, cryptology, battle group staff manning, drug interdiction operations, even fleet religious programs.
Both admirals see more opportunities to become more efficient, especially in regional maintenance of ships and airplanes, and in aircraft training.
They may consider coordinating or combining several special aircraft training installations at Fallon, Nev. There, the Navy operates the ``Top Gun'' fighter school for F-14 Tomcat pilots, the ``Top Dome'' training school for E-2C Hawkeye radar plane crews, and Navy Strike Warfare or ``Strike U'' for combined air wing training. Budget cuts may force the merging of these schools, the fleet commanders said. ILLUSTRATION: Graphics
Research by JACK DORSEY; Graphic by ROBERT D. VOROS/Staff
AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY
SOURCE: U.S. Navy
LINKING THE FLEETS
Navy forces worldwide are divided between two commands, the Pacific
and Atlantic fleets. Here's a look at each of them.
[For complete graphics, please see microfilm]
by CNB