Fighting A Shrinking Force

The Day.com reports this morning a defence appropriations bill to increase production of the Virginia Class submarines in 2011 (vice the planned and previuously funded 2012) has been signed by the President. A compromise between what the delegation (2010)wanted and what the Navy had already planned is an encouraging sign to submariners facing growing pressures and op-tempos due to a rapidly shrinking fleet while the number of missions remainsthe same or even escalates.

Some key quotes from the article:

The overall challenge this country faces with a dwindling fleet is something we really shouldn't wait until 2011 to address. It's a problem today, and we should be moving on it as quickly as we possibly can.

We changed the Navy and the administration's position because we acted as an independent branch of government, evaluating the maritime needs of the country and the merits of the Virginia-class program. The fact that we were able to change their position suggests that we can do it again.

- US Rep. Joe Courtney (D) while discussing the need to continue to pressure to advance the date to 2010 or even 2009.

Justine Sessions, a spokesperson for Senator Chris Dodd (D), added the Senator is working towards the same goal, and that "Sooner is always better in this case."

The article can be found at: TheDay.com