Congress appears poised to save five littoral combat ships from an early retirement, but the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee is saying that the fight to ditch the ships is not yet over.
The CNO insists the Navy is now on a “positive trajectory,” but it will have to rebuild confidence under congressional scrutiny as it prepares a new strategic plan.
The pace of operations and Big Navy’s COVID suppression measures are placing added stress and strain upon sailors and raising questions in some circles about retention and the material readiness of Navy ships, compounding issues that existed well before the pandemic.
Several ships have broken the record for continuous days at sea this year, and crews are enduring deployment lengths that go beyond Big Navy's readiness schedule.