Navy Readiness: Actions Needed to Address Persistent Maintenance, Training, and Other Challenges Affecting the Fleet
Abstract
Since January 2017, the Navy has suffered four significant mishaps at sea that resulted in serious damage to its ships and the loss of 17 sailors. Three of these incidents involved ships homeported in Japan. In response to these incidents, the Chief of Naval Operations ordered an operational pause for all fleets worldwide, and the Vice Chief of Naval Operations directed a comprehensive review of surface fleet operations, stating that these tragic incidents are not limited occurrences but part of a disturbing trend in mishaps involving U.S. ships. This statement provides information on the effects of homeporting ships overseas, reducing crew size on ships, and not completing maintenance on time on the readiness of the Navy and summarizes GAO recommendations to address the Navys maintenance, training, and other challenges. In preparing this statement, GAO relied on work it has published since 2015 related to the readiness of ships homeported overseas, sailor training and workload issues, maintenance challenges, and other issues. GAO updated this information, as appropriate, based on Navy data.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 19, 2017
- Accession Number
- AD1163437
Entities
People
- Amie Lesser
- Chris Cronin
- Chris Watson
- Cody Raysinger
- Felicia Lopez
- Grant Sutton
- Joanne Landesman
- John J Pendleton
- Kerri Eisenbach
- Michael Silver
- Shari Nikoo
- Steven Banovac
- Suzanne Wren
- Tobin Mcmurdie
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office