Poppy for the most part and then Slick cost us a Kitty Hawk class carrier right at it's half life. The post 9/11 carrier fiasco wasn't the first. The first happened in 1993. The AMERICA in mid 1993 was basically not battle ready nor in operational condition. This excerpt from a US News and World Report article found in the Congressional Record explains why.
The America needs constant attention. Commissioned in 1965, it is showing its age. A month before leaving Norfolk, a senior enlisted crew member complained to his congressman: The ship was operating on only two of its six electric generators, without radar and unable to pump fuel. This would be its third six-month cruise in three years, and without the standard 18 months at home for repairs, salt water and full steaming had taken their toll.
Entire article can be found here.
I found out from a shipmate who was on board during that time frame the account was true. It was The Senior Enlisted man on board wrote congress. That is not to be taken lightly as Master Chiefs don't do such things for nothing. Two generators meant no air conditioners and that is my knowledgeable on this matter assessment. Starting even one of ten chillers took about 1200 amps to start and 175-300 to run and that's at 460 volts. I worked on those units in my duty on board. No A/C means no electronics is operable including radar. The fuel issues I am not certain on but that could limit how many of her eight boilers could be used.
America returned from a third six month deployment without the REQUIRED routine shipyard stand down for repairs and maintenance. Upon arrival back from her third deployment in Norfolk in March 1994 she had an explosion in one of the boiler rooms. She had to be towed Cold Iron into Portsmouth to NNSY for repairs. They did a band-aid repair for a final deployment and she was decommissioned in 1996 at her half service life mark. AMERICA in service age was just behind the KENNEDY. Those two were the two newest conventionals.
When the KENNEDY and KITTY HAWK readiness fiasco's happened following 9/11 me and my uncle were discussing it. He was a retired Navy and Gator Freighter Captain was his last duty. Gator Freighters are Amphibious Carriers for troops, tanks, etc. He said "How can a ship fail INSURV? The Navy won't let you fail INSURV" In his time and in mine that was true. I was active during Carter's tenure and not even the Carter years took us to that low. Oh we had problems but the repairs got done.
The BUSH's have the distinguishment of likely being the only presidents to cut funding and readiness for the military in a time of war. The GOP loyalist still give them and the GOP congressional two house majority 1994-2006 a pass.
Let's just hope and pray our nuclear fleet is in fact getting what it needs.
As you know, I agree with you on Poppy and GW but Clinton did far more damage and the Navy was way too complaint on reducing maintenance to get its’ R&D money for their failed DDG and CG 1000 programs.
I concur with that, and I think the root of the problem is a bunch of pissy little blue-haired widows walking their teacup poodles in Central Park and complaining about prices in Bergdorf. They want their taxes cut and their coupons raised, and if that means a 100-ship Navy, then we'll just have to manage </off primly huffy>. Guess they have no idea, like some other American women do, what it's like to get occupied and raped by a foreign army.