American Shipbuilding Association

Special Edition

YOUR SUPPORT IS THE NATION’S FUTURE

BECOME A SEA POWER AMBASSADOR

www.seapowerambassador.org

The Shipbuilding Industry of the United States has developed an all volunteer online grassroots program called the Sea Power Ambassador Program to educate the American public and elected officials about the crisis facing the country as we lose our naval fleet and shipbuilding industry.  Sea Power Ambassadors are critical to rebuilding the fleet of the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard in meeting America's security requirements in the 21st Century.

"I am becoming increasingly concerned at the declining trend in procurement of ships for our Navy.  Considering the statistics on decommissioning rates against the rate of new ships being commissioned, the forecast for the coming decade is troubling. It is essential that leaders within Congress, the Pentagon and the Navy take the lead in addressing this concern. I strongly support the Sea Power Ambassador initiative and the mission that this initiative represents."
- Rep. Jo Ann Davis (R-VA)

America is losing her naval fleet and naval shipbuilding industrial base.  The United States currently possesses the smallest naval fleet in our Nation’s history – 295 ships.  This means that there are fewer places the United States can be in the world -- either responding to a crisis on a foreign shore, or protecting United States borders.  It also impairs our ability to patrol the sea lanes of commerce.  The dwindling fleet size forces the Navy to run its ships longer and harder, which reduces the lives of the ships, speeds up the retirement of the ships, and further decreases the size of the Navy.  Right now, older vessels are being retired faster than new ships are being brought into service.  Fewer ships results in the inability to stage sufficient surge and sustainment levels during times of war or national emergency.  In the Iraq war, for example, the Navy deployed 70% of all surface ships and 50% of all submarines.  These numbers are significant, but become even more so when one considers that the remaining 30% of surface ships and 50% of submarines were either deployed elsewhere in the world, were defending our homeland, or were off-line for repair and overhaul.  It documents that if the United States were engaged in a major conflict, or a conflict of extended duration, the country would not have enough ships to defend America. 

WHY BECOME A SEA POWER AMBASSADOR?

"In the past two years, the defense budget has grown by over one hundred billion dollars per year, yet the Navy fleet continues to shrink. Your vocal support of the Sea Power Ambassador Program is needed to reprioritize shipbuilding and rebuild the fleet."
- Rep. Gene Taylor (D-MS)

Rebuilding America's Navy and other sea services will only be achieved through an active, organized, grassroots educational campaign led by Sea Power Ambassadors from across the country.  The President, presidential candidates, U.S. Senators, and U.S. Representatives need to hear from multiple constituents through multiple means of communication that rebuilding America's Sea Power should be a national priority.

If we do not begin now to invest in our naval fleet, we may never be able to overcome more than a decade of underinvestment. Our surface ships and submarines take three to seven years to build, and that's assuming that we keep all the thousands of skilled workers on the job and ready to work. And it's not just the actual shipyard workers either. The yards depend on thousands of specialized suppliers all over the country, and if we don't keep building ships at a sufficient pace, many of these companies will cease to exist and thousands of highly skilled engineers and craftsmen will be laid off, and their talent lost.

"I encourage all Americans to participate in the Sea Power Ambassador Program. Investing in the Navy not only strengthens our defense and our national security, it strengthens our domestic security, as well. Building ships is building jobs."
- Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA)

Over the past few years, the Nation has lost over 180,000 shipbuilding manufacturing jobs in every state of the Union.  If the country loses our shipyards, ship system manufacturers, and our skilled workforce, it will take an enormous investment and years - if it is even possible - to ever reconstitute the industrial base necessary to build America's sea power fleet. Once lost, it is essentially lost forever.

The U.S. needs only to look at its commercial shipbuilding market to see what will happen to naval shipbuilding if we continue to neglect naval ship construction.  Unfair and predatory business practices by foreign governments have usurped the U.S. commercial shipbuilding market – which is now less than 1% of the world total.  The U.S. once was the world’s largest shipbuilding nation. 

Reliance on foreign produced ships and ship systems places the U.S. in a position of vulnerable dependence.  As the U.S. recently witnessed in the months and weeks before the Iraq war, trading partners and close allies denied support, and in several cases, refused to supply mission critical defense components and systems.  Future disagreements with U.S. foreign policies or a refusal to supply mission critical defense systems and components would be extremely detrimental to our men and women who are placed in harms way.  The U.S. will lose the ability to defend herself and her citizens if we lose our domestic naval shipbuilding industrial base. 

The United States should never place itself in the position of having to rely on China, Korea, Japan, Russia, France, or Germany for our naval ships.  Aside from the obvious national security argument, none of the aforementioned countries build ships that match the capability and endurance of U.S. built warships.  For example, the horrific bombing of the USS Cole tragically took the lives of 17 U.S. Sailors, yet the U.S. built ship remained afloat.  If the ship had been built by any of the above listed countries, the ship and more of her crew would have been lost.

As a maritime nation, if we cease to be a sea power, the United States will no longer be a super power, and our freedom and way of life will be at risk.   

That's why the Sea Power Ambassador Program is so vital. As Sea Power Ambassadors spread the word, the American people will become more aware of the danger and they will let their elected officials know that sea power must be a national priority.

"As America faces new threats that require our naval mobility, it's time we stopped living off shipbuilding investments made during the 1980s, and begin charting a course to ensure our country remains the world's largest, most formidable maritime power. To that end, I support the efforts of the Sea Power Ambassadors to raise awareness that America must invest in shipbuilding, if we are to maintain our maritime capability and our national security."
- Senator Trent Lott (R-MS)

HOW TO REGISTER

Registration is easy.  All you need is a computer and few moments of time.  Simply go to www.seapowerambassador.org and click the “Become An Ambassador” tab in the right hand corner of the screen.  Fill in your email address and name, and click “Register.”  That is all there is to it.

NEWS AND DEVELOPMENTS

As an Ambassador, you will receive news articles and press releases relating to size of the Nation’s fleet and strength of the U.S. manufacturing base.  Sea Power Ambassadors receive  breaking news on proposals by the Defense Department to cut our naval fleet – such as ongoing studies to cut by 1/3 our submarine force and our amphibious fleet.  These news articles reflect the decisions that are being made that affect the safety and security of every American.  Because most mainstream newspapers do not cover news items of this nature, Americans are seldom informed about the very real national security threat facing this Nation.  As a Sea Power Ambassador, you will receive timely information about the proposals and decisions that affect your life and livelihood.

TAKE ACTION – WHAT YOU CAN DO AS AN AMBASSADOR

Periodically you will be asked to “take action” and contact your elected officials to request their support to rebuild our Navy and other sea services.  The leaders of this Nation are listening to the Sea Power Ambassadors.  The number of co-sponsors to legislation sponsored by Reps Jo Ann Davis (R-VA) and Gene Taylor (D-MS) to rebuild the Navy to a 375 ship fleet increased after a grassroots letter writing campaign by Sea Power Ambassadors.  Letters sent to the campaign of John Kerry for President resulted in a written commitment from the candidate to rebuild our Navy. 

As an Ambassador, you can also select from draft op-ed articles to submit to your local paper – further raising awareness of the dangers involved as the fleet continues to sink.

DON’T FORGET TO SPREAD THE WORD

The success of any grassroots campaign depends on getting as many people involved as possible.  After you have registered, you have the opportunity to send a message to family, friends, and colleagues asking for them to become Sea Power Ambassadors. 

America stands at a cross-roads.  Will we continue to let our fleet decline and rely on countries like China for our defense?  Or will we instead invest in the present and future security of this country?  Only you can make a difference. 

Register today!
www.seapowerambassador.org

Well Said!

“Our Nation needs a superior Navy to support our military forces and vital interests overseas…but [rebuilding] isn’t cheap.  It comes at a time when there are many other pressures on our budget and when the American people have already had to make major sacrifices during the recession…It’s up to us, in our time, to choose and choose wisely between the hard but necessary task of preserving peace and freedom and the temptation to ignore our duty and blindly hope for the best while the enemies of freedom grow stronger day by day.”

President Ronald Reagan
Address to the Nation on the Need to Rebuild the Navy
March 23, 1983