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2024-08-25 -Land of the Free

Navy to sideline 17 vessels due to manpower shortage, operating crews will be redistributed: report

[FoxNews] Retiring the vessels would free up around 700 sailors and marines for redistribution

The Navy will reportedly sideline 17 vessels due to a manpower shortage that makes it difficult to properly crew and operate ships across the fleet.

There just aren't enough Merchant Marines to keep all the ships going at once, according to Rear Admiral (Ret.) Mark Montgomery, senior director of the Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation for the Foundation for Defense of Democracy, told Fox News Digital. Merchant Marines operate the many support vessels needed to keep the Navy running.

"The problem, of course, is the ships are at sea, away from home port 12 months of the year," Montgomery said. "So you need two crews … we're desperately short of the number of people."

"There’s a lack of experienced merchant mariners to crew the ships, and this is really a clear danger to national security," Montgomery added.

The Military Sealift Command drafted a plan to put 17 ships into "extended maintenance," which would include a redistribution of crews to other vessels across the Navy, the U.S. Naval Institute reported.

The ships include two replenishment ships, one fleet oiler, a dozen Spearhead-class Expeditionary Fast Transports and two forward-deployed Navy expeditionary sea bases – the USS Lewis Puller, based in Bahrain and the USS Herschel "Woody" Williams, based in Souda Bay, Greece.

The effort is known as the "great reset" and is awaiting approval from Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti. The change will reduce Navy demands for officers by 700 mariners.

The U.S. military has suffered some recruiting problems over the past few years, most notably in the Army, which had to cut its force by 24,000 – roughly 5% of jobs – in 2024 to account for recruiting shortfalls. The Army stressed that it is not asking current soldiers to leave but is aiming to affect posts that have remained empty.

Posted by Skidmark 2024-08-25 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11152 views ] Top

#1 They're slitting the fleet's throat - one of the few advantages we still have is our ability to keep the fleet supplied and fighting at the far end of nowhere. We give that up, especially in the Pacific, and we're back to the first six months of WWII.

Mike

Posted by MikeKozlowski 2024-08-25 07:18|| 2024-08-25 07:18|| Front Page Top

#2 They're slitting the fleet's throat

And the "throat" of Taiwan, but perhaps that is the plan.

Posted by Besoeker 2024-08-25 07:25|| 2024-08-25 07:25|| Front Page Top

Wilmore ant Williams to undertake extensive DoD logistics capabilities study.

Posted by Besoeker 2024-08-25 07:29|| 2024-08-25 07:29|| Front Page Top

#4 DOD Shortages

The MAGA types don't trust anything about the O'Biden run DOD. Then we have the O'Biden supporting Smartphone Generation, it would rather View and than Do.

Posted by NN2N1 2024-08-25 07:44|| 2024-08-25 07:44|| Front Page Top

#5 The Army stressed that it is not asking current soldiers to leave

Unless you are straight and white cause you are the source of every problem in society and inherently racist.

Posted by Procopius2k 2024-08-25 09:26|| 2024-08-25 09:26|| Front Page Top

#6 The Navy is the worst of the services. On patrol a doctor told me that after a sub refueling, 90% of the crew was married. After two patrols only 10% were married. A fast attack can be out of home port over 200 days. Kids today do not know how to work!

Posted by Old Salty 2024-08-25 14:25|| 2024-08-25 14:25|| Front Page Top

#7 One reason why those 'we need more ships' analysis types are a problem is that we can't provide the personnel to keep the ships operating.

We are going to need ships which require very small crews as well as all kinds of quasi autonomous devices to guard the ship and project offense.

Posted by Lord Garth 2024-08-25 19:31|| 2024-08-25 19:31|| Front Page Top

#8 We are going to need ships which require very small crews as well as all kinds of quasi autonomous devices to guard the ship and project offense.

The problem with quasi-autonomous is little or no damage control. That takes personnel.

Posted by Procopius2k 2024-08-25 19:54|| 2024-08-25 19:54|| Front Page Top

#9 How about increased pay/stature-respect/less DEI?

Or is that unpossible?

Posted by Frank G 2024-08-25 20:12|| 2024-08-25 20:12|| Front Page Top

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