What It Takes to Keep 100 U.S. Navy Warships Underway
Posted By David Craig
On Date June 28, 2017
The Navy seems to have lost sight of its stated goal of getting the fleet to 355 ships, or even the President’s stated goal of achieving a 350-ship fleet. During their recent statements to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, acting Secretary of the Navy Sean Stackley and Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson emphasized that their priorities within the fiscal year (FY) 2018 budget were to improve readiness and fully fund the Navy’s maintenance accounts. Admiral Richardson described the initiative as adding “wholeness” to the force by increasing the number of personnel—both active duty and civilian—as well as by spending more on ship maintenance. Richardson went on to state, “These investments are designed to help reverse years of significant strain on the fleet.” When pressed during questioning by several legislators, to include Armed Services Committee chairman and retired Navy captain Senator John McCain, on whether the additional funding provided within the FY 2018 budget should have been spent on acquiring more ships, the Navy’s leadership team replied that the best use of additional funds, at this point in time, is on fully funding readiness and maintenance accounts. There is, however, a hole in the logic of this argument.
http://www.realcleardefense.com/video/2017/06/28/what_it_takes_to_keep_100_usn_warships_underway.html
