Surface force ‘pauses’ amid readiness worries

[unhappycamper]

Surface force ‘pauses’ amid readiness worries
By Philip Ewing - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Apr 29, 2008 17:46:44 EDT

Top naval commanders have called for broad reviews and a “strategic pause” in the surface force after a pair of devastating inspections made them question whether today’s crews can maintain their ships or even assess their state of readiness.

Vice Adm. D.C. Curtis, commander of Naval Surface Forces, and Rear Adm. Kevin Quinn, commander of the Naval Surface Force Atlantic Fleet, both have said that ships and their crews must relearn how to evaluate themselves and, in Curtis’ words, “get back to basics” by focusing on fundamentals like routine inspections, maintenance and keeping ships clean.

The reviews were prompted by reports from the Navy’s board of Inspection and Survey that found two warships — the Norfolk, Va.-based destroyer Stout and the Pearl Harbor-based cruiser Chosin — were in such poor condition they couldn’t enter combat. Curtis cited the InSurv in an April 18 message to the surface force that ordered the “strategic pause.”

“Recent formal and informal assessments and inspections indicate that our self-assessment capability has declined, resulting in reduced readiness,” he wrote. “We made a lot of changes in the surface force in the past few years. ... We must conduct a rigorous assessment of the impact on readiness of these changes so we can make appropriate course corrections.”

A spokesman for Naval Surface Forces could not be reached for comment Monday afternoon.


Rest of article at: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/04/navy_surfor_review_042808w/