Asia Pacific Defense Forum Spring 2000

Freedom of Navigation:
A Fundamental American Policy

by Rear Adm. William W. Pickavance Jr., USN
Asia-Pacific Defense FORUM Spring 2000

Neither nature nor art has partitioned the sea into empires. The ocean and its treasures are the common property of all men.

John Adams,
2nd President of the United States

U.S. policy is to regularly exercise and assert freedom of navigation rights consistent with the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea The U.S Pacific Fleet carrier USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) and the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer Haruna (DD 141) receive underway replenishment from (center ship) the USNS Tippecanoe (TAO 199).

Photo by PHC Mahkon K. Miller, USN

The United States, throughout its history, has counted freedom of navigation among its most vital national interests–indeed, one worth fighting for. In 1803, shortly after the birth of the nation, out of concern to protect freedom of navigation for merchant shipping, the American Navy executed missions to suppress piracy in the Southern Mediterranean Sea. The famous "Shores of Tripoli" lyric of the United States Marine Corps Hymn alludes to operations conducted as part of these missions.

Rear Adm. William W. Pickavance, Jr., USN, was the Director for Operations (J3) for the Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Command. He is a naval aviator and has held a number of U.S. Navy operational command positions, including his last position as Commander, Carrier Group One. He is a graduate of Texas A&M University, the Naval War College, and Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government Senior Executive Program.

The author acknowledges the invaluable editorial contributions and legal counsel of Cmdr. Alan G. Kaufman, USN, Assistant Judge Advocate, HQ, Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Command, in the preparation of this article.

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