<p>JamTex you noted that: “I hope you are but just in case you are not–the Navy’s mission is completely different than the Army’s”. Conceptually that is true. However the realities of today’s conflict presents some important considerations. Perhaps Adm Fowler is looking to these>>>>>>>>>>>>>></p>
<p>A good example of where naval officers are being used to lead ground forces is shown by the creation of P.R.T.'s in Afganistan:</p>
<p>(From a speech given on July 17, 2007 by Rear Adm Michelle Howard)</p>
<p>"In 2003, the Navy was asked to provide an officer to lead a Provincial Reconstruction Team in Afghanistan. We searched the roles looking for someone who exhibited the greatest characteristics of leadership. Whoever would be chosen would be representing the Navy in a difficult and challenging environment and their performance would determine whether we continued to nominate officers to lead PRTs. We forwarded Commander Kim Evans as our nominee. </p>
<pre><code> As it turns out, she was the first woman (regardless of Service) to lead a Provincial Reconstruction Team. She was superb as the commander of a combined group of Army, Air force, Navy, civilian, and Afghani personnel. As a result, she was asked to stand up a second PRT in a more hostile area, before her tour was over. Kim Evans in her year in Afghanistan did a remarkable job—so much so that the Navy currently leads six PRTs in Afghanistan."
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<p>(I didn’t realize that there are more sailors serving on land in the Middle East than on the water in CentCom’s area of operations) :</p>
<p>“We have steadily provided Sailors to the ground fight as long as they have the skill sets required. Currently we have over 13,000 Sailors serving ashore in CENTCOM’s theater. To put that in perspective, we average 10,000 Sailors at sea in the same theater in any given month.”</p>
<p>Bottom line, I think today’s war shows that the Mission of the Naval Academy is well served by preparing its Midshipman for the possibility of leading ground forces.</p>