Naval Aviation Vision: Sea Control, Maritime Security, Power Projection, Deterrence, Humanitarian Assistance, Century of Excellence, Future, Transformation Roadmaps, Forcenet

The importance of Naval Aviation is founded on the Navy and Marine Corps partnership. From deployed Marine expeditionary units and aviation combat elements embarked aboard amphibious assault ships conducting expeditionary operations ashore, to Navy and Marine Corps fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft embarked aboard aircraft carriers streaming alongside surface combatants as part of carrier strike groups, Naval Aviation is ideally suited to carry out the national security strategy in any maritime conflict.

On 8 May 1911, Captain Washington Irving Chambers, the officer in charge of aviation, requisitioned the Navy's first aircraft—an A-1 Triad—from aviator and inventor Glenn H. Curtis. This aircraft first flew on 1 July 1911. The following year, the first Marine Corps aviator reported for duty, launching Marine Corps Aviation. Nearly a century later, the Navy's newest aircraft, the P-8A Poseidon, flew for the first time on 25 April 2009. This book shares the vision of today's Naval Aviation leaders, extending the earliest plans for Naval Aviation from 1911 into the year 2032 and beyond. It underscores our focus on current readiness, the future capabilities and readiness necessary for the fleet of the future, and the people who form the cornerstone of all our successes.

Naval Aviation is engaged in operations worldwide. The aircraft, weapons, and systems we employ and the sustainment of that inventory are the focus of our current readiness efforts. Maintaining appropriate readiness levels creates the ability for Naval Aviation forces to respond to the full range of national tasking—whether as a part of Operation Enduring Freedom or a humanitarian assistance effort. Navy and Marine Corps units apply readiness improvement strategies that keep our aircraft mission-capable and effective within the constraints of funding realities.

Future capabilities and readiness represent the roadmap that Naval Aviation will follow to remain capable of executing traditional Naval missions while also improving our ability to conduct non-traditional missions in any post-9/11 operating environment. This roadmap outlines the platform transformation for our aircraft carriers, amphibious assault ships, aircraft, unmanned systems, and weapons. An essential part of developing future capabilities is our science and technology research efforts that will allow faster responses and enable precision effects to meet emerging threats to the benefit of our Sailors and Marines.