Portal:United States Department of Defense

“ DoD Freedom of Navigation Program
The U.S. Department of Defense's FON Program is comprehensive in scope. The Program encompasses all of the rights, freedoms, and lawful uses of the sea and airspace available to all nations under international law. The Program is actively implemented against excessive maritime claims by coastal nations in every region of the world, based upon the Department's global interest in mobility and access. ”

“ The Program depends upon the employment of U.S. forces from each branch of the Military Services, including the U.S. Coast Guard. The Program includes both FON operations (i.e., operations that have the primary purpose of challenging excessive maritime claims) and other FON-related activities (i.e., operations that have some other primary purpose, but have a secondary effect of challenging excessive claims) , in order to gain efficiencies in a fiscally-constrained environment. ”