Posted on 05/01/2019 2:19:08 AM PDT by robowombat
Pence: No Early Retirement for USS Harry S. Truman
By: Ben Werner April 30, 2019 4:05 PM • Updated: April 30, 2019 5:20 PM
This post has been updated to include statements from Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.) and Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.) on the Vice President Pence’s comments.
The White House budget proposal to skip a scheduled refueling of aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) appears to have lost support in the Trump Administration, according to Vice President Mike Pence.
While touring Truman Tuesday, Pence addressed the crew in the ship’s hangar bay and quickly stated the plan to retire the carrier two decades early was now quashed, according to several media accounts.
“As I stand before you today, I know the future of this aircraft carrier is the subject of some budget discussions in Washington, D.C. And as we continue to fight Congress to make sure that our military has the resources you need to accomplish your mission, President Donald Trump asked me to deliver a message to each and every one of you on the deck of the USS Truman. We are keeping the best carrier in the world in the fight. We are not retiring the Truman,” Pence said. “The USS Harry S. Truman is going to be giving ‘em hell for many more years to come.”
Lt. Lauren Chatmas, a Navy spokesperson, referred questions about the plan for refueling Truman to the White House.
The proposal for Truman to skip its upcoming scheduled refueling and complex overhaul, essentially ending its life 25 years early, was included in the Trump Administration’s Fiscal Year 2020 Department of Defense budget request sent to Congress.
The retirement decision occurred in concert with a new two-carrier purchase agreement for two Ford-class carriers. The Pentagon said the combined savings derived from the Truman retirement and buying the two carriers at once would be routed to new capabilities that include unmanned systems and high-energy weapons.
On Capitol Hill, the proposal was immediately met with bipartisan skepticism that not refueling Truman would result in significant savings or increase the readiness and lethality of the fleet, USNI News previously reported.
“I think that’s a ridiculous idea,” Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.), a retired Navy commander representing the district that includes Naval Station Norfolk, said shortly after the budget proposal was made.
“That math doesn’t work,” said Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.), the ranking member of the House Armed Services seapower and projection forces subcommittee, who also represents part of the Hampton Roads region.
In a late Tuesday statement provided to USNI News, Wittman praised the announcement from Pence.
“This is the right choice and I am glad to see the administration make this correction. I have been adamant since the beginning that retiring the USS Truman halfway through its expected service life would be strategically and fiscally irresponsible. Aircraft carriers are the nation’s preeminent power projection platform and the cornerstone of the US Navy. Completing the USS Truman’s Refueling and Complex Overhaul (RCOH) is critical to reaching our 12-carrier requirement,” he said. “I will continue fighting to keep the USS Truman’s RCOH on schedule and properly funded. We must continue to make the investments now, not only to maximize naval power as a deterrent force but also to combat and defeat our adversaries if conflict is required.”
Luria applauded the move in a statement to USNI News late Tuesday.
“I’m glad that the administration reversed itself because this would have been an awful decision for Hampton Roads and America,” Luria said. “As someone who served two years on the USS Harry S. Truman, I have firsthand knowledge of its value and ability to bring sustained power anywhere on Earth.”
I hope they do a better job on the refit than one I heard. One carrier I heard of went in for its second refit. During the refit they found a machine shop, fully stocked the way it was just before the first refit. The first refit just sealed the entire compartment, tools, logs, manuals, etc. like a time capsule.
CC
I don’t care how much better the Ford class is suppose to be, this is a perfectly good functional proven design carrier. And not just any carrier but a Nimitz class carrier.
Throwing it away only half way through it’s designed life is a waste, and on top of that we need to keep as many carriers and air wings active as we have now, and actually more like 12.
In a war with a near peer adversary we ARE going to lose carriers. Question is if we will go into the fight to be prepared enough to have anything left at the end of the fight in order to win the fight.
"If you need a friend in Washington, get a dog."
"I never did give anybody hell. I just told the truth and they thought it was hell."
"Intense feeling too often obscures the truth."
"America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, on imagination and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand."
"When even one American - who has done nothing wrong - is forced by fear to shut his mind and close his mouth - then all Americans are in peril."
"Those who want the Government to regulate matters of the mind and spirit are like men who are so afraid of being murdered that they commit suicide to avoid assassination."
"Always be sincere, even if you don't mean it"
"The best way to give advice to your children is to find out what they want and then advise them to do it."
"I remember when I first came to Washington. For the first six months you wonder how the hell you ever got here. For the next six months you wonder how the hell the rest of them ever got here."
"The buck stops here."
Truman was one of the few great Presidents in US history. The others: Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Reagan, and Trump.
” During the refit they found a machine shop, fully stocked the way it was just before the first refit. The first refit just sealed the entire compartment, tools, logs, manuals, etc. like a time capsule.”
I heard that same story in 1969 at NAS Alameda. :)
Military legend?
CC
“Military legend?”
I’m thinking that’s it. The story I heard was an aircraft carrier.
Correct. I’m not a subscriber to “these are floating targets” school of thought. In a conflict, the more weapons platforms you have, the better, especially something as powerful as this.
We have to have more Carriers than the Chicoms have Mach IV missiles.
"Those who want the Government to regulate matters of the mind and spirit are like men who are so afraid of being murdered that they commit suicide to avoid assassination."
Old Harry must be spinning in his grave these days...
In every war since WWII the USN carriers have been used and used quite a bit. If we continue to fight similar small scale wars I see them continuing in their roles. In a shooting war with a major power their life expectancy would be reduced and that has been the case since probably the 1960’s.
This retirement makes no sense considering they would be replacing the HST with a just a large Ford class carrier. If they want to go away from the large class carriers consider a USS America size carrier with an angled flight deck. You won’t have as many aircraft available but it will be cheaper to build.
The biggest problem I see is the USN has got away from aircraft with long legs to the F18 and F35 with 300-500 mile ranges, thus they have to get in close to hit their targets making their carriers more vulnerable.
Mach IV missile cannot be makeover to hit a moving target.
makeover = maneuvered
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