Politicians love a good fight, and in a lot of ways, that’s healthy for the republic. Political disputes help to expose the truth and make the right policy choices.
But Washington too often enjoys the fight and doesn’t put down the gloves long enough to fix things.
Sadly, this is the state of our debate over the Navy. For the last several weeks, discussions surrounding this icon of American military might have exposed several problems, including some that have been around for more than a decade.
But the political nature of this debate has made solutions hard to come by. Instead of generating a prescription for revitalizing the Navy, Congress seems likely to leave the Navy in a status quo that almost nobody supports.
The Navy’s problems are vast but easily summarized. It has been a goal of policymakers to have a fleet of 355 manned ships, yet we have been stuck with fewer than 300 ships for the last 15 years.
An expanding mission, including projecting power in the Indo-Pacific region, has spread the fleet thin. This means extended deployments that produce more wear and tear on our ships and the men and women who operate them.
As a result, there is less time for training, and the impact of this flaw has been catastrophic. Seventeen sailors lost their lives in the 2017 collisions of the USS Fitzgerald and the USS McCain, which happened within weeks of each other. Meanwhile, recent reports reveal that the Navy has difficulty retaining surface warfare officers, sailors aren’t getting enough sleep, and the Navy faces a crisis of leadership and culture.
On both readiness and morale, the Navy has fallen behind. But despite these well-documented problems, there appears to be little interest in dropping the usual political fights and taking action.
Republicans and Democrats instead seem to be doing their best not to listen to each other as they focus on problems that play well with their respective bases. Democrats highlight the need for a more diverse Navy and the push to remove “extremism” from the ranks, which they say is critical to readiness. Republicans want the Navy to focus its efforts on war fighting and say Democrats’ budget plans don’t provide enough ships or sailors to get the job done.
What’s funny is how much the two parties agree, even as they vote down each other’s amendments. As a minority fleet sailor and combat soldier, I am proud of the diversity of my fellow service members. Republicans in Congress routinely agree that diversity and inclusion are laudable goals, though they propose different means of getting there.
And while a larger Navy sounds like a GOP idea, many Democrats support this goal. They know more ships mean more national security, a more effective projection of U.S. values abroad, and more skilled, high-paying jobs at home.
The inability to come together and negotiate answers is a shame for three critical reasons.
First, getting the Navy back on track is the best way to support President Joe Biden and his desire for “over the horizon” capabilities in defense of our allies in Afghanistan. Biden made a bold decision when he moved most U.S. troops out of a country where we had toiled for years without any clear mission but with the real risk of harm to U.S. troops. Afghanistan is still our ally, and a fully functioning and capable Navy is precisely what’s needed to support the president’s efforts there.
Second, while both parties talk about the need to fix the Navy so it can win a theoretical future war against China or other adversaries, the immediate challenge is making sure the Navy can train properly today without crashing boats. Only with skilled service members, high morale, and full readiness should we start thinking about future wartime scenarios.
Third and most importantly, we don’t put strangers out on these ships to defend us at sea. These are our sons and daughters. They deserve a Navy and a Congress that care enough to act when they learn that our forces are stretched too thin, that morale is breaking down, and that the Navy somehow lacks the ability to prevent “preventable” incidents.
To choose continued bickering over compromise and action is the same as saying, “We don’t care.” That can no longer be our answer.
Jason Beardsley (@JasonRBeardsley) represents veterans, active-duty sailors, and their families as executive director of the Association of the United States Navy.
