Doubts linger as US Navy preps to order 10 more Flight III destroyers

PO2 Robert Aitchison - My 2 cents... I think the Nav was hoping that LCS was going to be the end all be all for future ship needs, including as a replacement for TICO's (I served on a Tico as a young BM and it was old then..)

We have a problem with shipbuilding because the LCS is taking up a lot of the capacity (build and fix after trials). Of course we also have a lot of build capacity taken up repairing McCain and Fitz. One of the reasons I like the idea of more DDG's is that the yards actually get 2 benefits to focusing on one ship class. Economies of scale on material purchases, and they become much better at building the ships. Look at the 1st couple of DDG's built at P'goula compared to the later ones, night and day better... Plus, it takes a shorter amount of time...

As said here before, none of this really matters if the Navy can't get enough sailors to man the ships. The manning is always the long pole in the tent, as it rightly should be...

PO2 Robert Aitchison - I was in Norfolk, couldn't wait to leave. Was much happier in San Diego! There is a recruiting issue, but I think the long term solution could be combining USN/USMC personnel issues and outsource them. Sailors should go to sea... Got pissed off seeing 20 yr sailors that had never been to sea in their career.

PO2 Robert Aitchison - Sad! How is your son doing?

PO2 Robert Aitchison - I always thought E-5 was the toughest time... increase in pay, increase in responsibilities, coming up on life decisions. With a year and a half, he should start looking into what he wants to do when he gets out. I used to send my folks to schools and apprentice programs. I did a lot of yard periods (Engineer) and they were never fun. Best of luck to him (and you). If you need anything let me know!

That is why I have always argued that for every sailor you need at see you have to have three in the force. The other two are ashore to man/maintain simulators, train, and plus up the SIMAs to do more shipboard maintenance while the ships are in port. The increase sea to shore balance will keep sailors in longer.

CWO3 Dennis M. - I played OPFOR in a Joint Ex, as the NoKo Naval Commander, and I destroyed the allied forces with actual OOB avail. It requires out of the box thinking, and an understanding of the caps and lims of the allied forces. Got smacked upside the head by the General running the EX because they put a pause in the EX, since that had never happened before. He wanted to know how I did it.... I told him I was a SWO who didn't like to lose. Every previous OPFOR billet had been filled by either aviators or amphib folks. Great folks, but they did not have a clear understanding of how to employ forces... So, to write off NoKO navy is a mistake in my opinion, especially since our Exercises proving our dominance might be slightly flawed... My 2 cents...

LT Brad McInnis - What a great experience to play OPFOR as the NoKO Naval Commander but add to that was your outcome in that battle........BZ Brad!. I do have one question for you...Did the general at least buy you a beer for the lesson you gave him?

As for writing off the NoKO Navy, that comes from me being an old Navy SWO that is out of the loop for almost 30 years now and I will bow to your more recent Naval service and experience. And keep in mind, the most serious thing NoKO ever did to the Navy during my time was when I was in Boot camp in 1967 when the USS Pueblo was captured! I always look forward to and hold in high regard, your posts since I think you may be the most recent retired SWO on RP. That aside, I still think the military build up and expansion of China is reminiscent of pre-WWII Japan and couple that with the Russian abilities, I see a threat on the horizon that is most worrisome for our present Navy, and I think that should be the focus and direction of our future Navy. We will need a Navy that will not just neutralize that threat but have the ability to decimate that threat.. And, one other thing, our Navy must be able to fight a two ocean war!

MCPO Roger Collins - That was an interesting article but got a chuckle from the photo. They could have used a better photo. The photo shows 4 MQM-74 jet powered target drones set up for sea launch by JATO bottle during a missile ex. I spent 18 months in VC-5 in 1970-71 and we air and ground launched many of them as well as the larger BQM-34's. Unless hit by a missile or shot down, they are recoverable and re-used. As an ET, I worked on the drone control transmitters and telemetry receivers and tracking radar.

CWO3 Dennis M. - No, he was pissed, so no beer. Did at least change things to make sure that future EX's had the right people for it. That is all I cared about (Garbage in equals garbage out).

I am out of the loop, too, after 10 years away... It really is amazing how quick things change. I will say that the "new" Navy would do well to listen to some of us "old timers" as most of the problems we see today are the same ones we faced (Manning, OPTEMPO).

Take care buddy, and I hope you have a great weekend!