text: Chapter 6
  Sustainment Operations in a Maritime Environment
  This chapter describes sustainment operations in a maritime environment. It begins with a
  discussion on the characteristics of the maritime environment and the challenges they pose. It
  also discusses planning considerations for sustainment in a maritime environment.
  SECTION I – MARITIME ENVIRONMENT OVERVIEW
  6-1. The maritime domain is the oceans, seas, seabed, bays, estuaries, islands, coastal areas, rivers and
  littorals and the airspace above and the water below (JP 3-32). Sustainment operations within the maritime
  environment will pose significant challenges and require significant synchronization and coordination.
  6-2. Successful movement and maneuver between the oceans, seas, bays, estuaries, islands, and coastal areas
  will require support of joint, allied, and multinational partners. The oceans of the world are connected by
  various waterways, straits, and sea lines of communication. These can become avenues of approach or
  chokepoints and enable or hinder sustainment operations and movement and maneuver. Leaders must
  understand this challenge and work with joint, allied, and multinational partners to overcome this possibility.
  Control of these waterways, straits, and certain critical land masses will be essential to the sustainment of
  operations in the maritime environment.
  CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MARITIME ENVIRONMENT
  6-3. The maritime environment contains various land masses, with some being as large as the British Isles in
  the North Atlantic and others being as small as the Marshall Islands in the South Pacific. Islands within the
  maritime environment can have varying environmental conditions that range from jungle to Arctic
  conditions. Mountains can be found in all environmental conditions. Leaders and forces must understand and
  be prepared for the various environmental conditions and the challenges each present. Leaders must also
  understand and prepare for the increased distance between maneuver forces and sustainment forces when
  operating in a maritime environment. The varying environmental conditions and distances through which
  forces must be sustained may require increased reliance on joint, allied, and multinational partners for
  support.
  6-4. In the maritime environment, occupying any land mass or island may provide a position of relative
  advantage by either force. Leaders must account for extended distances when providing materiel and services
  to allied and friendly forces. The increased operational distances in a maritime environment may reduce or
  slow support operations and provide opportunities for counteraction by adversaries. Sustainment planners
  must be closely linked to operational planning and anticipate support requirements to ensure commanders
  maintain freedom of action when operating in a maritime environment.
  LITTORAL REGIONS
  6-5. The littoral region comprises two segments of the OE: seaward and landward. The seaward segment is
  the area from the open ocean to the shore, which must be controlled to support operations ashore. The
  landward segment is the area inland from the shore that can be supported and defended directly from the sea
  (JP 3-32). FM 3-0 provides additional detail on the five categories of littorals listed below:
  • Enclosed and semi-enclosed seas.
  • Islands.
  • Archipelagoes.
  • Open seas.
  • Marginal seas.
  6-6. Army landing craft are specifically designed to dramatically increase the ability to access austere points
  in the littorals that are currently unavailable to land forces. They can deliver cargo from advanced bases and
  deep-draft strategic sealift ships to harbors, inland waterways, remote or unimproved beaches and coastlines,