In an interview with the US Naval Institute, the US Chief Of Naval Operations (CNO) Admiral Mike Gilday, addressed the issue of US Navy ships returning to port covered in rust, saying that rust-free ships are critical for deterrence and naval readiness.
“On the appearance side, you have to be ready, you have to like you mean business,” said the Vice Admiral Peter Daly of USNI. “Now that COVID has eased off and it’s less restrictive in terms of port calls, is there time to lay to and paint?”
The question comes after many photos of rust-worn American naval ships have hit the internet, with the latest being the USNS Alan Shepard, a Military Sealift Command supply ship named in honor of the first American in space, being photographed in the Singapore Strait looking worn, tired, and streaked with rust.
About as bad as I’ve ever seen on an active US Navy ship.
This ship was launched only 16 years ago. Ugh.
— Evergreen Intel (@vcdgf555) April 28, 2022
Many have blamed COVID but the problem extends back before the coronavirus choked supply lines and squeezed US Navy operations. “The nonchalant attitude many are taking to the physical condition of the public-facing part of our Navy is, in a word, disgraceful,” said former surface warfare officer Commander Salamander back in 2019. “I’m not quite sure when our culture decided that doing less with worse was acceptable – where for your wants NOW, you will saddle future leaders who follow you with the Bondo, duct tape, and baling wire remediation you did to get by – but here we are.”
And Sal is not alone. Many articles have been written about a lack of attention to detail in the modern navy. “We have become the worst-looking Navy in the world — with no competition,” said longtime naval journalist and commentator Chris Cavas in a Tasked and Purpose article last year. “When you look at a ship from a European navy or the Chinese navy, for example, they will make that ship pristine before it deploys.”
#Destroyer JAMES E WILLIAMS DDG95 arriving at Naval Station Mayport the morning of 27 Feb. Ship has been deployed to Fourth Fleet in the Caribbean only a few weeks and looks like . . . Seriously, hard to imagine pride in your command when your ship looks like this /Wjo4YKIUFu
— Chris Cavas (@CavasShips) February 27, 2021
This is readiness, This is deterrence
In response to the question today, Admiral Gilday gave a strong response about the importance of a good-looking fleet.
“This is part of readiness, it is part of (deterrence) absolutely,” said Admiral Gilday when asked about the rusty ship photos. “Appearance is important. I mean, you got to look sharp. We are the world’s premier Navy. We’ve got to look like it. This comes down to our, get real get better campaign for people to self assess and self-correct, for people stand up and take action when they see stuff wrong, and not accept stuff that’s broken. Do what you can to fix it, if you can’t elevate it, the chain of command ought to be listening. They ought to be listening to your proposed solutions.”
Doing the work of three ships with the maintenance time of half of a ship. Looks great, Navy, let’s keep it up.
— Blake Herzinger (@BDHerzinger) April 28, 2022
Support from the top is critical and Admiral Gilday’s message on the importance of appearance could not be stronger but gCaptain reached out to senior officers assigned to TAKE supply ships like the USNS Alan Shepard and they expressed anger at the CNO’s remarks.
“I could have guessed he would say that!” said one longtime supply ship officer. “There are 29 ships to support hundreds of Navy ships, and Military Sealift Command supply ships are at sea a lot load more than the average Navy vessel. Sometimes MSC has to run a tanker halfway across the Indian Ocean to do an unrep because they need the Navy warship underway for training instead of pulling in and getting fuel. When do we have time to paint?”
“An AKE like the Shepard should have 129 crewmembers in perfect conditions but they now at about 100 because of manning problems,” said another MSC officer. “About 20 in the deck department can be assigned to rust prevent duty. However, that crew is also assigned to Underway Replenishment duties. Three Unreps could easily eat away an entire day. When we return to port can we OSPHO? No. Can I send a crewmember over the side to chip? No. Navy rules prevent it.”
Most upsetting to the crew we shared this video with is Gilday’s comment, “people stand up and take action when they see stuff wrong, and not accept stuff that’s broken. Do what you can to fix it, if you can’t elevate it up the chain of command.”
To that, one civilian Merchant Marine officer responded “Can’t he see it? Can’t everyone see it? Isn’t that the problem? Has he been to Norfolk or San Diego recently? It’s not just Military Sealift Command ships but combatants that look rusty too. If one Marine is standing guard outside an embassy with ketchup on his shirt, that’s his fault. But if dozens of Marines around the world look sloppy that’s a system failure.”
The Navy’s $9B stealthy super destroyer is covered in rust:
— Tyler Rogoway (@Aviation_Intel) December 10, 2021
But the last comment was most disturbing of all, “Dude come on, are you going to post that photo of the Shepard to gCaptain? I literally had the commodore knocking on my gangway asking why my #### was rusty. Those posts just trickle down to the ship’s Chief Mates who are already overwhelmed.”
To Admiral Gilday we say the same thing: Dude, come on
