Strategic Homeport was a plan developed in the 1980s by

Secretary of the Navy The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States Department of Defense. By law, the se ...

John Lehman John Francis Lehman Jr. (born September 14, 1942) is an American private equity investor and writer who served as Secretary of the Navy (1981–1987) in the Ronald Reagan administration where he promoted the creation of a 600-ship Navy. From 2003 ...

for building new

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

bases within the continental United States. It was proposed as part of the

600-ship Navy The 600-ship Navy was a strategic plan of the United States Navy during the 1980s to rebuild its fleet after cutbacks that followed the end of the Vietnam War. The plan, which originated with Republican leaders, was an important campaign plank of ...

plan of the

Reagan Administration Ronald Reagan's tenure as the 40th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1981, and ended on January 20, 1989. Reagan, a Republican from California, took office following a landslide victory over D ...

. It called for the construction of new ports for existing and newly commissioned ships. The plan was based on five strategic principles: #force dispersal to complicate

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

targeting #battlegroup integrity #wider industrial base utilization #logistics suitability #geographic considerations such as reduced transit times to likely operating areas The program was devised in part to achieve a political goal: to build support for the naval expansion program though the promise of new naval bases. The program enjoyed broad support both in Congress and in the Reagan Administration.

Stations

Stations opened under the program include: *

Naval Station Everett Naval Station Everett (NAVSTA Everett) is a military installation located in the city of Everett, Washington, north of Seattle. The naval station, located on the city's waterfront on the northeastern end of Puget Sound, was designed as a homeport ...

, Everett, Washington *

Naval Station Galveston Naval Station Lake Galveston, is a former United States Navy Naval Station. It was planned for operation in the 1980s during the creation of the Strategic Homeport program under the administration of President Ronald Reagan. It was recommended for ...

, Galveston, Texas *

Naval Station Ingleside Naval Station Ingleside was a United States Navy base in Ingleside, Texas. It was on the northern shore of Corpus Christi Bay, 12 miles northeast of the city of Corpus Christi. The base is about 150 miles south of San Antonio and approximately ...

, Ingleside, Texas * Naval Station Lake Charles, Lake Charles, Louisiana *

Naval Station Mobile Naval Station Mobile is a former station of the United States Navy. It opened in 1985 during the creation of the Strategic Homeport Strategic Homeport was a plan developed in the 1980s by Secretary of the Navy John Lehman for building new U.S. Na ...

, Mobile, Alabama *

Naval Station New York Naval Station New York was a United States Navy Naval Station on Staten Island in New York City, closed in 1994. Opened in 1990, it was part of the Reagan administration's Strategic Homeport program. The station had two sections: a Strategic Ho ...

, Staten Island, New York *

Naval Station Pascagoula Naval Station Pascagoula (NAVSTA Pascagoula) was a base of the United States Navy, in Pascagoula, Mississippi, Pascagoula, Mississippi. The base officially closed 15 November 2006. The base's property, on Singing River Island in the Mississippi S ...

, Pascagoula, Mississippi

References

Cold War military history of the United States United States Navy {{US-Navy-stub