JP 3-0, page 120

Chapter V V-14 JP 3-0 Iraq, initiated in August 1992, and Operation DENY FLIGHT in Bosnia, from March 1993 to December 1995). h. Ensuring Freedom of Navigation and Overflight. These operations are conducted to protect US navigation, overflight, and related interests on, under, and over the seas against excessive maritime claims. Freedom of navigation is a sovereign right accorded by international law. (1) International law has long recognized that a coastal state may exercise jurisdiction and control within its territorial sea in the same manner that it can exercise sovereignty over its own land territory. International law accords the right of “innocent” passage to ships of other nations through a state’s territorial waters. Passage is “innocent” as long as it is not prejudicial to the peace, good order, or security of the coastal state. The high seas are free for reasonable use of all states. (2) Freedom of navigation by aircraft through international airspace is a well- established principle of international law. Aircraft threatened by nations or groups through the extension of airspace control zones outside the established international norms will result in a measured legal response, appropriate to the situation. The International Civil Aviation Organization, a specialized agency of the UN, codifies the principles and techniques of international air navigation and fosters the planning and development of international air transport to ensure safe and orderly use of international airspace. i. Nation assistance is civil or military assistance (other than FHA) rendered to a nation by US forces within that nation’s territory during peacetime, crises or emergencies, or war, based on agreements mutually concluded between the United States and that nation (such as Operation PROMOTE LIBERTY, in 1990, following Operation JUST CAUSE in Panama). Nation assistance operations support the HN by promoting sustainable development and growth of responsive institutions. The goal is to promote long-term regional stability. Nation assistance programs include, but are not limited to, security assistance, FID, and other Title 10, USC, programs. Collaborative planning between the JFC and interorganizational and HN authorities can greatly enhance the effectiveness of nation assistance. The JIACG can help facilitate this coordination. All nation assistance actions are integrated into the US ambassador’s country plan. ENSURING OVERFLIGHT AND FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION OPERATIONS The Berlin air corridors, established between 1948 and 1990, which allowed air access to West Berlin, were taken to maintain international airspace to an “air-locked” geographical area. The ATTAIN DOCUMENT series of operations against Libya in 1986 were freedom of navigation operations, both air and sea, in the Gulf of Sidra. Various Sources