In an August 10, 2019 photo, USS Connecticut departs Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility’s Dry Dock 4 in Bremerton, Wash., during a 5½-month period of maintenance and modernization that’s formally known as a docking continuous maintenance availability.
Credit: Max Maxfield/ U.S. Navy
WASHINGTON — During the last five years, Navy vessels have spent an additional, unplanned 33,700 days, or about 90 years, docked at shipyards for maintenance, according to a recent government report, raising concerns from senators Wednesday about the ability of the service to conduct its missions around the world.
“One effect of these delays is fewer ready ships, which places a greater stress on our fleet to meet all of its operational demands,” Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee subpanel on seapower, said during a hearing about maintenance delays.
Shipyard delays has been a known issue for years. A report published Wednesday by the Government Accountability Office found the Navy faces “persistent and substantial maintenance delays” that affects most of its maintenance efforts and hurts […]
Every article you’ve posted today is troubling. It’s unfortunate that we truly have become the “worlds policemen”. I applaud the efforts to get other NATO members to pony up more money. I’m glad we are committing necessary resources to the upkeep and rebuilding what we already have. At least those dollars will be spent in this country, and even though companies will profit so too will all the workers participating in the rebuilding. I don’t know how to solve the problem of so many young people being unfit to serve? I imagine the standards would be lowered if war broke out and we needed personnel. And now we have to launch another military branch, the Space Force. I’m certain that will be very costly as well. Makes me wonder if prior administration’s sale of space technology to our enemies has made this new military branch a necessity? Did that create a new threat which we now must spend a ton of money to counter? Seems to me that lousy leadership is often times our worst enemy!