A fleet of ships including the Nimitz-class carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower that will sail to the Middle East to support airstrikes against the Islamic State group will be using second-hand parts from other operational units, Military.com reported Thursday.Hope Hodge Seck writes U.S. Navy operational commanders disclosed this at a House subcommittee hearing as they discussed the current readiness status of service ships and aircraft as a result of reduced maintenance funding and sequestration.
Adm. Phil Davidson, commander of U.S. Fleet Forces Command, has said the command and U.S. Pacific Fleet have a maintenance and operations budget shortfall of $848 million.
Capt. Scott Robertson, USS Normandy commander, has added that 13 mission-essential parts were “cannibalized” from the guided-missile cruiser to support the Eisenhower carrier strike group deployment.
“If a part fails on a unit that’s operational, we look in the supply system, and the supply system says either there no parts available at all or parts are not going to be available for a few months,” said Capt. Gregory McRae, Submarine Squadron 6 commander.
He noted that parts are being salvaged from the submarine force at a rate of 1.5 per day to help fund current operations, the report said.
“Accepting these risks means accepting less readiness across the whole of the Navy,” Davidson added.
