The U.S. Navy is such an effective force because, unlike most other navies, it has a large proportion of it's strength on warships. As of the end of 2001, 38 percent of the navy's 380,000 sailors were, as the navy puts it, "afloat." But some 70 percent of those afloat are stationed in the United States, the rest are either on the high seas or based in foreign ports.
