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| -Land of the Free |
| Recruiting Shortfall Means Coast Guard ‘Can't Crew All Our Ships,' Says Vice Commandant- U.S. will have no icebreakers in the Arctic this summer," |
| 2024-08-11 |
| [USNI] Coming up short 10 percent of its required enlisted force means the Coast Guard “can’t crew all our ships” and has had to “temporarily shutter some of our smaller stations,” the vice commandant said Wednesday. Adm. Kevin Lunday, speaking at the Brookings Institution, added, “We had to lay up three of our major cutters because we don’t have enough enlisted personnel to crew them.” Since the action, the service has shifted funds from other parts of the budget to bolster recruiting and retention. He described the “controlled parts exchanged,” borrowing from another vessel to get a cutter underway, as “the fancy term for cannibalization.” If it continues over time, “you’re eating your readiness.” Lunday later added that USCGC Healy (WAGB-20) had an engine room fire that caused it to return to port for repair this year. The medium icebreaker “had just begun her summer patrol” in the Arctic. Repair will prove difficult because “much of the machinery aboard is antiquated” and parts may no longer be available. “If Healy can’t continue that patrol, the U.S. will have no icebreakers in the Arctic this summer,” he said. This happened as the United States laid claim to an extended continental shelf, requiring more presence to assert sovereignty in that part of the Arctic. |
| Posted by:NoMoreBS |
| #5 about $12B budget of which about 40% go for salaries one of the major increases in costs for the CG is patrolling to intercept illegal drug and other goods the operation of the summer icebreaker is pretty expensive and while it provides more security for commerce, it is a service which should be funded by the recipients of the that service rather than the taxpayer |
| Posted by: Lord Garth 2024-08-11 17:57 |
| #4 Perhaps a strategy shift... F-35B Fighters Are Headed to the Arctic |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2024-08-11 13:52 |
| #3 Global warming was supposed to have removed all the ice from the artic 10 years ago. |
| Posted by: Ulalet Brown4953 2024-08-11 10:46 |
| #2 ...and yet another wheel falls off.... |
| Posted by: Mercutio 2024-08-11 09:50 |
| #1 It’s OK. The Canadian military is huge and will cover us. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2024-08-11 09:12 |