Protecting, Enabling and Sustaining the Fleet in the Fight

Official Statements

• Commander, Navy Expeditionary Forces, November 13: “Outside the bounds of the U.S. Navy’s most familiar domains, ships, submarines and aircraft, there is a force hard at work behind the scenes. A force of versatile, resilient and lethal warriors who operate across the globe clearing hazards, securing access, building critical infrastructure and moving the fuel, equipment and ordnance that keeps the Navy in the fight.”

• Commander, Navy Expeditionary Forces, November 13: “Those warriors comprise Commander, Navy Expeditionary Forces (CNEF), a force provider responsible for manning, training, equipping and sustaining expeditionary capabilities for naval, joint and combined operations worldwide. Its mission is to enable unimpeded access and movement, expeditionary logistics, and expeditionary construction in every environment.”

• Commander, Navy Expeditionary Forces, November 13: “There are four words that we generally use to very succinctly summarize our mission statement here, and that's clear, secure, build, protect,” Stated U.S. Navy Cmdr. Rick Haley assigned to CNEF. That mission is central to a simple but demanding requirement: helping the Navy get on station, stay on station and sustain the fight.”

• Commander, Navy Expeditionary Forces, November 13: “Formerly known as Navy Expeditionary Combat Command (NECC), the organization was redesignated CNEF on Oct. 1. The new name reflects its role as the Navy's expeditionary type command, aligning it with the Navy's other major type commands while underscoring that expeditionary capability is an enduring requirement, not a temporary response to one conflict or era. “To me, this is more than just a name change,” said U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Brad Andros, commander, Navy Expeditionary Forces. “It’s a formal recognition of our evolution into the Navy’s expeditionary type command.”

• Commander, Navy Expeditionary Forces, November 13: “From the land fight to maritime competition The command's modern structure grew from the demands of the Global War on Terrorism. Established in 2006, NECC brought together communities that had been spread across different commands, including Seabees, explosive ordnance disposal (EDO), riverine forces, expeditionary logisticians and Navy divers. The goal was to provide more responsive, integrated forces for the joint fight ashore.”

• Commander, Navy Expeditionary Forces, November 13: “But the capabilities themselves are much older. Navy EOD traces its lineage to 1941; Seabees and expeditionary logistics personnel have supported naval operations since World War II; and today's expeditionary security forces draw from the heritage of Vietnam-era riverine forces. “This is a force that has always been part of the Navy,” Andros said. “Now it’s just combined under a single commander.”

• Commander, Navy Expeditionary Forces, November 13: “As the Navy has moved forward from the Global War on Terror, CNEF has refocused its forces on enabling fleet operations in contested environments. That means securing ports and maritime infrastructure, defending advanced naval bases, clearing mines and other hazards, protecting logistics hubs, and sustaining access where naval forces need it, no matter the stakes. The transition reflects an enduring need for expeditionary capability. “They weren’t just needed for the last fight,” Andros said. “They’re ready for the next fight.”

• Commander, Navy Expeditionary Forces, November 13: “The result is a force built to solve operational problems at the seam between sea and shore. Clearing the way For Navy EOD technicians, that work can mean finding and mitigating explosive hazards on land or at sea. EOD teams support conventional and improvised explosive-threat response, special warfare missions, diving and salvage and expeditionary mine countermeasures.”

• Commander, Navy Expeditionary Forces, November 13: “Expeditionary mine countermeasures teams combine divers with unmanned and remotely operated systems to locate, identify and neutralize mines in the water column and on the seafloor. Because the teams can operate from shore or from available vessels, they offer an agile option for addressing mine threats in areas where a traditional mine countermeasures ship may not be the best fit. “Those are about 20-person units that employ unmanned systems and divers to locate and neutralize mines, both in the water column and on the sea floor,” Haley said.”

• Commander, Navy Expeditionary Forces, November 13: “Mobile Diving and Salvage Units are rapidly deployable and specially trained to salvage ships and aircraft. They can locate and recover high-value objects as well as search and clear obstructions restricting access to ports, piers, and waterways. They assist vessels in distress and conduct anti-terrorism diving in any environment. The purpose is not merely to remove a hazard. It is to create freedom of movement for commercial and military ships, sustain access to critical waterways and preserve options for fleet commanders. Securing the fleet's access”

• Commander, Navy Expeditionary Forces, November 13: “Maritime Expeditionary Security Forces protect the fleet and the infrastructure it relies upon. Their mission spans landward security at ports, installations and expeditionary bases; seaward security using patrol boats; and embarked security aboard logistics vessels that lack organic force-protection capabilities.”

• Commander, Navy Expeditionary Forces, November 13: “Whether Sailors are safeguarding a port, escorting a vessel or protecting a logistics node, the objective is the same: keep the routes, facilities and ships that sustain naval operations secure and available. That work becomes especially important when the fleet must operate from dispersed locations, use degraded infrastructure or maintain logistics networks that an adversary may attempt to disrupt. Building combat power forward”

• Commander, Navy Expeditionary Forces, November 13: “The Seabees provide the construction capability behind the expeditionary mission. Their work includes horizontal and vertical construction - such as structures, bridges, wells and utilities - as well as the erection and support of expeditionary medical facilities. In a hostile environment, construction is not simply a support function. It can create the conditions that allow naval and joint forces to establish, operate and recover from forward locations. Airfields, logistics sites, utilities and protective infrastructure all enable the fleet's ability to generate and sustain combat power.”

• Commander, Navy Expeditionary Forces, November 13: “Sustaining the fight “We kind of consider ourselves to be that last tactical mile,” Haley said. Expeditionary logistics forces move cargo and fuel from ports and airfields to where it is needed most, including the ships and forward units that depend on continuous resupply.”

• Commander, Navy Expeditionary Forces, November 13: “Their capabilities include expeditionary reload companies capable of rearming a number of Navy platforms, including destroyers, helping ships restore their weapons capacity. This capability cuts 6-8 weeks of transit time keeping forward deployed forces in the fight longer, with less operational downtime. Expeditionary fuels teams can establish mobile fuel farms, test and store fuel, and route it to ports or airfields as needed.”

• Commander, Navy Expeditionary Forces, November 13: “As threats to the logistics domain continue to intensify, the ability to operate beyond large, secure and established ports is increasingly important. Expeditionary logisticians are designed to work in every location, including bare beaches and degraded ports, creating additional options for commanders. Designed for the next fight CNEF's redesign has emphasized standardized, scalable capability packages so fleet commanders understand what an expeditionary unit brings before it arrives. That predictability is intended to make the force easier to integrate into maritime operations while helping the command identify and address readiness gaps.”

• Commander, Navy Expeditionary Forces, November 13: “We standardized our forces to ensure that they met fleet commander needs,” Andros said, describing an effort to make expeditionary capability more predictable and easier to integrate into maritime operations. communications and information technology while expanding its use of robotics and autonomous systems, particularly in mine countermeasures missions. For the Sailors of CNEF, the mission remains grounded in practical outcomes: a channel cleared, a port secured, an airfield built, a ship rearmed, or fuel and supplies delivered where the fleet needs them.”

• Commander, Navy Expeditionary Forces, November 13: “Naval lethality depends on more than the platforms that sail, dive and fly. It depends on the forces that make access possible, protect the operating environment and sustain the fleet once it reaches the fight. CNEF exists to deliver those capabilities, wherever and whenever they are needed.”