It Was Awesome But Are We Asking Too Much Of The US Navy?

[unhappycamper]

http://www.opednews.com/articles/It-Was-Awesome-But-Are-We-by-Steven-Bustin-Budget_Military_Navy_Security-140222-716.html

"Whiskey 291" is not the latest blend from Makers Mark, the "Junkyard" is not full of old GM X-cars and "COD" is not collect on delivery. You learn these and other lexicons when you spend 24 hours on a Nimitz class aircraft carrier. You also learn what the Navy's greatest asset is (hint, it's perishable) and perhaps the most serious threat to that asset.

It Was Awesome But Are We Asking Too Much Of The US Navy?
By Steven Bustin
OpEdNews Op Eds 2/22/2014 at 07:50:59

~snip~

As stated, we are all writers, bloggers and social media types to say nothing of being very tech savvy. Naturally, we were mesmerized by the technology, much of it in operation all day and much of our restless night. Advanced communications, radar, navigation, billions of dollars of equipment, a 100,000 ton, 1,100 foot nuclear powered ocean going Borg-city moving far faster than the official 34 knots through the water (you can't fool me), water desalination, etc., all it of was very cool and we were suitably impressed. But"the real asset of the carrier and ultimately the most impressive to us was the crew, men and women, officers and enlisted, young and, well, younger still than me.

~snip~

Keep in mind, not only the Navy but the entire US Military, the most powerful and dominant the world has ever seen, is all-volunteer. So, not a problem working like this, they volunteered, right? Well, there is.

Life in the Navy was never easy, it was always hard work but it was reasonable and offered, and still does, many tangible and intangible rewards not the least of which is doing something for your country on a grand scale. But the issue is that the Navy is being asked to do more and more because Congress allocates less and less. I noticed empty billets (bunks, sorry, I have the lexicon down now) and people are doing more, more with less so to speak. Deployments lengths are creeping up as we have gone from a 11 carrier navy to a 10 carrier navy in what many believe is actually a 15 carrier world. Deployments lengths go up, the number of personnel goes down, what do you have? You have an extremely capable, professional, focused, dedicated and patriotic crew that works harder and longer and does not see their loved ones for longer and longer periods of time. That is as you should surmise, assuming your IQ is over 80 and your common sense is in tact, not good, not good at all.

I'm not interested in having a military budget and procurement conversation, I'll leave that to those perpetual pork-seeking politicians. But"whatever is the right level of budget for the navy needs to match the mission at hand. One highly educated, thoughtful and very senior officer who's name I will not reveal (ask NSA if you want a transcript of the conversation), in response to a question of budget cuts and their effects, stated ""the trick is to get that right balance. It may be just as bad to give the military too much money as it is not enough". Well said, true and revealing in it's honesty and simplicity. If you reduce the budget and reduce the manpower, then reduce the mission. I know common sense is not a characteristic of Congress, but it is simple enough even for them to understand the concept. Forget national security for the moment"no, no, I can't. Fine. Don't forget national security but focus on the proper matching of resources and mission. If national security depends on X number of carriers, budget that and the resources to operate and never forget, the most important resource is the crew, those young men and women who sacrifice daily for the rest of us.

[Scuba]

1. Since most of the Navy's mission is protecting the shipments of oil from the mid-east ...

... and cheap products from China how about we let Big Oil and Walmart fund the Navy?

[krispos42]

2. The peacetime military should be a place...

..where you can learn skills that you can then use in civilian life, if you decided to end your enlistment. Not farmed out to Halliburton-like contractors at 10x the price.

Get rid of the contractors, get a 20% pay increase across the board, and teach military members skills besides trigger-pulling. Mechanics and electricians and electronics and plumbing and website design and data-management and firefighting and operating heavy construction equipment and so forth.

[Enthusiast]

3. +1 an entire shit load!

[appal_jack]

4. Yes, indeed.

Yes, indeed.

Also, we need to revise the mission to be smaller. If we can only afford 8 carrier groups instead in order to support the lives of the troops who serve on them, then let's delegate security to the UN and allies as reality dictates. We can become more of a part of the global community instead of its full-time police man.

-app