The commander of U.S. Fleet Forces is looking to expand an Atlantic-based submarine deployment initiative to the Indo-Pacific to strengthen Navy responsiveness to challenges posed by Russia and China.
Adm. Daryl Caudle, commander of U.S. Fleet Forces Command, told reporters at a breakfast on Monday during the Surface Navy Association’s (SNA) annual symposium about the Wolfpack Initiative.
In reference to the submarine warfare of the Second World War, Wolfpack is one of many efforts being undertaken by the Navy under the “One Atlantic Concept,” which aims to rid commanders of the command challenges posed by the operational lines separating combatant commands. Another effort, dubbed Task Force Greyhound, conducts a similar mission but with guided missile destroyers.
“The Wolfpack is a little back of a throwback word that Adm. Houston came up with of how we conducted submarine warfare in World War Two. The idea there is if you had a set of ships back then they could communicate to one another because they were overmatched by speed of the targets that they were pursuing. And we could link together submarines more effectively to actually impact damage.”
In contrast, today’s Wolfpack designates submarines that are out of their deployment cycle with a level of readiness and certification as “combat surge ready.” These boats are then counted under a contingency response force, which can rapidly deploy to developing situations.
“In short notice, I can flow that submarine to a point of need that can be mutually agreed upon between the EUCOM commander and the NORTHCOM commander to respond to some Russian out-of-area deployment.”
Caudle acknowledges that Wolfpack performs well in the Atlantic due to the distances required for submarines on the East Coast to sortie out as well as the relationship between NORTHCOM and EUCOM. The ties between these commands were described by the Fleet Forces commander as “symbiotic,” which allows assets to transition between their areas of responsibility seamlessly.
Some examples of Wolfpack submarines given by Caudle include the nuclear attack boats USS South Dakota, USS Pasadena and USS Colorado.
In Caudle’s remarks at SNA, the Fleet Forces commander stressed the need to be responsive to threats that exploit “seams in the Unified Command Plan boundaries and stress the Command and Control of assigned forces.” Through the broader One Atlantic concept as well as smaller efforts within it, such as Wolfpack and Greyhound, the Navy was able to respond to challenges posed in 2023 by Russia and China.
Going forward, Caudle views Wolfpack as “the way of the future.” He also wished for Wolfpack to be applied with U.S. Indo-Pacific Command:
“I’d like to see us getting better at this in the Pacific as well, where the NORTHCOM AOR and INDOPACOM AOR have a nexus and the high north in particular as well around the Aleutian Island Chain. So you can see that same type of construct working on the West Coast.”
