I, for one, am incredibly grateful for the time and attention the U.S. Navy is suddenly receiving from legacy media and the Democrats. The media are suddenly favoring emerging technology for the Navy and its EMALS (electromagnetic catapults) and have directed their fire on the president for his order to return to steam catapults. House and Senate Democrats are suddenly deeply concerned for the welfare of our sailors, given the USS Abraham Lincoln’s 200-plus-day deployment with nary a port call or a day off.
Excellent, it is much appreciated.
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When the Navy started extending its carriers long past the point of comfort amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Democrats raised no concerns for those sailors. If COVID was an acceptable reason to burden the American people with restrictions, the same, it seems, would apply to American servicemembers who endured 200-plus days at sea with low morale and rough living conditions across many U.S. ships.
When multiple carrier deployments were extended in 2024 under President Joe Biden and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Democrats didn’t decry the administration or bemoan the treatment of our sailors. The USS Nimitz and USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, or “Ike,” were to be decommissioned in 2026 and 2027, respectively. The decommissioning of the Nimitz will now be pushed into 2027, and the Ike sometime in late 2029 or 2030.
Democrats didn’t protest these extensions. The Pentagon will stretch these carriers far beyond their intended use. There was no call by Democrats for legislation to introduce a viable alternative to replace these ships, and no increased funding was sought for the production of new ships. Everyone is entitled to critique the administration, but at least there has been recognition of this ever-pressing problem by Hung Cao, the acting secretary of the Navy.
Democrats have not stepped up to take any action on this. If they were actually concerned about the state of the Navy, why not work with Republicans to pass the proposed $1.5 trillion in defense spending? Why not allocate more resources to the Navy, which has a particularly expensive budget because of its ship maintenance and constant global presence requirements? Democrats have continually blocked Trump’s request for $17 billion for U.S. military costs for the ongoing fight with Iran. They call out the poor conditions aboard the Lincoln, while refusing to approve the means of bettering those conditions. With the media focusing their attention on the brave men and women aboard U.S. aircraft carriers, the Democrats are suddenly taking seriously what they could have and should have been focused on improving for years.
Woe to those who have just now taken an interest in the state of the U.S. military. Memo to the media and Democrats: The defense of our nation and the condition of the U.S. Navy are not political props; they are not toys to wave around and then cast aside. The Democrats tolerated this deterioration for years under Biden and now are witnessing what they have wrought.
A commitment to a strong defense and the livelihoods and well-being of those who defend us is just that, a commitment. Talk is cheap — a commitment must be shown through votes, legislation, and serious efforts to fix the problem. Hey media, why not cover every naval deployment with the same scrutiny toward the lifespan of the ships and attention to the care of the lives of the men and women aboard them, instead of pouncing on an administration you obviously detest using the Navy as a prop?
The men and women aboard these carriers have put their lives at risk, with those aboard the USS Ford and USS Lincoln seeing some of the most intense action in the fight against Iran. These sailors deserve your gratitude and thanks. Yes, they volunteered to serve, but it came at a high cost.
Now is the time to honor those you claim to defend. Congress still has the power of the purse. Work with colleagues across the aisle to increase defense spending to the level the president has continually asked for. Without any action, all your lately professed concern will be, as Shakespeare put it, just a bunch of noise “full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” It will certainly mean nothing to the men and women out there defending us.