Shortly after George W. Bush won re-election, the destroyer USS Hayler (DD 997) took its last voyage to a location somewhere in the Atlantic. She carried out one last act of service for the United States Navy, serving as a target for a SINKEX – in essence, a live-fire exercise – for the Expeditionary Strike Group centered on USS Saipan (LHA 2). USS Hayler represents an interesting might-have been. In fact, had Congress had its way, she would have been the lead ship of a new class of destroyers, often called the air-capable Spruance. In many ways, the air-capable Spruance...