(Adm.) Harvey: Navy can fix surface force in 2 years

[unhappycamper]

Harvey: Navy can fix surface force in 2 years
By Philip Ewing - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Jul 29, 2010 14:52:40 EDT

A panel of top admirals conceded to House lawmakers on Wednesday that readiness in the surface Navy has faltered over the past decade, but affirmed they know exactly what the fleet’s problems are and will have many of them resolved by about 2012.

That timeline came from Adm. John Harvey, head of Fleet Forces Command, who said that if everything goes as envisioned with changes in the works to funding and manpower, the fleet will be “on track to reverse these trends in the next two years.”

For that to happen, the Navy has to get the money it requested in this year’s budget, finish planning where it will add and change billets in 2011, and then put it all together in the year after that, Harvey said.

“This is the number one issue I face every day, which is the readiness of our fleet, specifically the readiness of our surface fleet,” Harvey said, and he assured the readiness subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee that the Navy will move in the right direction.

Lawmakers from both parties pressed Harvey and his fellow panelists about recent findings of systemic dysfunction in the surface force, specifically about the poor performance of Aegis radar; the endemic problems with the fleet’s San Antonio-class amphibious ships; and the shortfalls of the Navy’s reliance on computer-based training. Appearing with Harvey were Vice Adm. Kevin McCoy, head of Naval Sea Systems Command; and Vice Adm. William Burke, the top readiness officer on the Navy Staff.