In a Navy Times website article, here, Vice CNO Adm. Mark Ferguson was reported as saying that the Navy plans to shut down four air wings on March 1. Since a carrier without an air wing is just a giant paperweight, shutting down four air wings means that four carriers will be idled. The Navy has 11 carriers and 9 air wings. Depending on the current status of CVW-14 which was deactivated but delayed, it's possible that the air wing count is 10. Regardless, it looks like some carriers will be staying pierside for a while.
We'll definitely be keeping a close eye on this!
Bastards.
ReplyDeletePlease hang a sign on the Pentagon "Out for Sequestration/budget cuts, will be back in 20 years". I'm sure the bad guys will take it easy while we figure this out.
ReplyDeleteYou should get used to a term that the Royal Navy (and UK forces as a whole) have been subjected to for quite a while now:
Delete'Capability holiday'
Or, we can't afford this capability any more so we'll get rid of it and then plan on reintroducing it when we've got the money. You know, in the next defence review in five years. Or if not in the one after that. Or maybe the one after that. Or something.
I like it! It sounds festive and happy.
DeleteI removed a comment from sadombrowski as a protective measure for the commenter since the original post contained an email address which can be captured by spambots. Here is his original comment, less the address.
ReplyDelete"Why was Enterprise deactivated before the Ford was ready for the fleet?"
sadombrowski, if you really wanted your address to appear, let me know and I'll repost it or you can reply to this and repost and I'll leave it be.
sadombrowski, that's a good question and I don't have an answer. I've wondered about that myself. Enterprise was getting old, no doubt, but a few more years should have been doable. My guess is that it was strictly a budget issue trying to free up more funds for new construction. Perhaps her reactors were simply at the end of their life but I've never heard that stated by any official. Who knows?
DeleteCommander, whatever is easier for you. Do you know if the Enterprise will be kept in a"REAL" ready reserve status for a few years? Thank you for this site. Too b ad we can't all get together, drink some grog and solve all the problems in the world! :)
DeleteAnon, it is my understanding that Enterprise will begin the scrapping process immediately with the first step being the nuclear defueling and inactivation. So, no, she won't be kept in any kind of ready state. Sad, isn't it?
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