The Navy’s top leader is worried that some sailors throughout the fleet might not be competent enough to drive their ships, following an investigation into a pair of “preventable,” lethal collisions.
“I’m concerned enough that I support these ready-for-sea assessments,” Adm. John Richardson, chief of naval operations, told reporters Thursday after discussing the results of a Fleet Comprehensive Review. “We’re going to get a solid baseline of that readiness and proficiency.”
Those assessments are underway following a series of accidents in the Navy’s Japan-based 7th Fleet, including two destroyer collisions this summer that resulted in the deaths of 17 sailors. The accidents point to various ways the Navy is “overstretched [and] overextended,” Richardson said, including lack of training in crucial positions.
In the case of the USS John S. McCain, an accident that claimed the lives of 10 sailors, “insufficient knowledge and proficiency of the ship’s steering system” was a key factor in the collision. The sailor tasked with operating the relevant controls couldn’t execute the task, but the lack of knowledge wasn’t limited to one person.
“The commander wasn’t any help in that regard,” Richardson said.
Neither was the pace of ship deployments. U.S. Navy operations in the region have increased in recent years, as former President Barack Obama and President Trump have sought to counteract Chinese and North Korean belligerence. But the number of “battle force” ships in the Navy has plummeted in recent decades, from 454 in 1993 to 275 in 2016 — a trend Defense Department officials maintain is exacerbated by recent budget cuts.
“The demand for ready and certified ships to support operations exceeded the quantity that could be supplied,” Richardson said.
The admiral argued that naval officers have to be more “blunt” with their superiors about inadequate training or other factors that may render them unready to deploy. “The Navy has been run hard in the last 16 years and the pace is picking up, especially in the Pacific,” he told reporters. “Recent experience has shown that if we’re not careful we can become overstretched, overextended. If we take our eye off the fundamentals, we become vulnerable to mistakes at all levels of command.”
Eight leaders have been relieved of their duties following a June collision involving the USS Fitzgerald, which resulted in the deaths of seven sailors, and the McCain’s August accident. The list includes junior officers involved in the incidents, senior officers commanding the ships, as well as the three-star admiral commanding 7th Fleet.
Richardson said that the ultimate responsibility lies with him. “I own this,” he said, adding that he is taking steps to improve readiness across the Navy. But he also said that he has not felt the pressure to take any shortcuts in naval deployments. When asked if he still has the confidence of the sailors under his command, he said “I do.”
