Meeting those challenges will not be easy, Greenert
said, adding that “going forward, we must be clear-eyed in communicating what we will and what we
won’t be able to provide the nation in the future.”
Enterprise To Deploy
‘At Least’ Once More
The Navy’s oldest nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, USS
Enterprise, will deploy “one more time, at least,” Rear
Adm. Ted N. Branch, commander, Naval Air Force
Atlantic, announced Sept. 10.
Addressing an audience at the 2011 Tailhook Association convention, Branch praised the longevity of
nuclear-powered carriers, noting that Enterprise’s 50-
year career spanned half of U.S. naval aviation’s history.
Enterprise returned in July to Norfolk, Va., from a six-month deployment following a two-year overhaul.
Branch’s announcement quelled skepticism from
some analysts who questioned the sufficiency of the
core life of the carrier’s nuclear reactors to make further deployments. Enterprise is scheduled to be decommissioned in 2013. At that time, under a congressionally approved plan, the number of carriers in the fleet
will drop to 10 until the next carrier, Gerald R. Ford, is
commissioned in 2015. ■
Reporting by Seapower Correspondent Megan Scully and
Managing Editor Richard R. Burgess.
Sailors man the rails aboard the aircraft carrier USS
Enterprise as it returns to homeport at Naval Station
Norfolk, Va., July 15 after a six-month deployment to the
U.S. Fifth and Sixth Fleet areas of responsibility. Enterprise
is scheduled to be decommissioned in 2013.
U.S. NAVY
