I had a commanding officer who used to regularly quote Vice Admiral Buckeley, his favorite one being: “I’ve seen clean ships that couldn’t fight, but I’ve never seen a dirty one that could.” Bulkeley, who commanded Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 3 in the Philippines at the start of WWII, would go on to have 11 different at-sea commands, fought in a host of engagements, and received, among other things, a Medal of Honor, a Navy Cross, two Distinguished Service Crosses, and a Croix de Guerre. He also commanded the Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV) for 13 years. INSURV’s job was – and is – to inspect and assess the material readiness of Navy ships. In short, he had the bonafides to make such a statement.

So?

There was an article in the local (Norfolk, VA) paper the other day about the Navy possibly opening up Naval Air Station Oceana to some commercial activity in an attempt to raise money for maintenance on various facility problems, which include – per the article:

“…a hangar with a leaky roof, an air conditioning system that doesn’t work, and plumbing that frequently clogs and leaks. The fire suppression system also doesn’t work, placing a dozen aircraft at risk…several of the base’s barracks have been condemned due to black mold and leaky roofs.”

I haven’t seen these particulars, but I would add that the bases I have been on lately all look unkempt – at best. Buildings are dirty, inside and out, many need to be painted, trash is often observed drifting around the base, grass is seemingly always uncut. Some are worse than others, all are below the norm of 20 years ago.

But maybe the money is going into training and ship and aircraft maintenance? As has been noted by others, our ships seem to be rustier now than ever. But VADM Thomas Moore, Commander Naval Sea Systems Command noted that:
“Aesthetically, maybe there’s a little bit there. But when we get the ships in availability, we’re not seeing anything that would tell me that anything is different today than it was, say, 10, 15, 20 years ago.”

In short, VADM Moore is asserting that rusty and dirty ships can fight. Hmmm…

Fine. So, what would explain why USS Truman is in the shipyard while her strike group has deployed? Apples and oranges some might say. But aren’t we really talking about readiness writ large? What about the LCS class of ships which was unable to deploy even one hull for 19 months, out of more than a dozen commissioned ships. The same readiness was called into question earlier this year when a panel of junior aviators, when asked if they were trained and ready for a “high-end fight” against a peer nation responded unanimously: “No.”

Add onto this the ongoing farce that is USS Ford and its not-quite-right catapults, and the ammunition elevators that don’t work, the V-22’s abysmal readiness statistics, and the F-35C (the Navy’s variant), which finally reached an initial operational status just this past February, 13 years after the first flight of the Air Force variant.

Is there a way to fix these problems?

Certainly, though no one will like it:
End all training that doesn’t directly impact combat capabilities.
Stop procuring gold-plated weapon systems; better is the enemy of good enough.
Stop coddling the officers and sailors. Set high standards; insist on performance, demand they earn the high regard in which they are held.
Expect only what you inspect. Set high standards, then test for them. Relieve those who can’t perform.
Dramatically reduce the size of staffs and non-deploying shore commands; cut the number of admirals in half, and the same for captains.
Once you’ve done this, then you can go to Congress and – if necessary – ask for more money; only then will you have meaningful data on what works and what doesn’t.

One final thought, as a counter-point to VADM Moore’s lack of concern, these words from Admiral J.O. Richardson, the man relieved of command of the fleet at Pearl Harbor 9 months prior to the attack, because he complained too loudly about both readiness and about the location of the fleet:

“The bane of the Navy is a contented admiral.”

Copyright 2019 Arrias
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