Sea Power - November 2016

More than a decade of high-operational tempo, increasing demand from combatant commanders and fiscal uncertainty have created a maintenance backlog for ships, aircraft and other equipment that directly effects readiness, and the Navy and Marine Corps are working aggressively to address maintenance shortfalls.

“Key to our success is operating
the battle force at a sustainable
level over the long term,” said
Rear Adm. Michael Manazir, dep-
uty chief of naval operations for
Warfare Systems, addressing avia-
tion readiness before the House
Armed Services subcommittee on
readiness on July 6. “Readiness
recovery requires a commitment
to protect the time needed to prop-
erly maintain and modernize our
capital-intensive force and to
conduct full-spectrum training.
Achieving full readiness also
requires us to restore capacity and
throughput at our public shipyards
and aviation depots.”
Readiness also requires Sailors
and Marines to maintain equip-
ment on the go, at sea. Leading off
our special report on Maintenance,
Repair & Overhaul, Special Cor-
respondent Gidget Fuentes, in
her report “Tight Squeeze,” notes
the importance of the relationship
between a Navy ship’s crew and
embarked Marines when repairs to
Marine Corps assets — planned or
not — are necessary in a dispersed
environment at sea.

Rear Adm. James P. Downey, who is commander of the Navy Regional Special Correspondent Nick Adde, in his report “Training Maintainers,” looks at how Sailors in ship-maintenance ratings are making do with what they have and finding innovative solutions to mitigate equipment wear and tear.

In “Invisible Foe,” Special Correspondent Daniel P. Taylor reports on Navy efforts to combat corrosion and limit the costs that inevitably come as ships age.

Florida-based Cecil Field not only is home to the Florida Army National Guard and the Coast Guard’s Helicopter Interdiction Squadron 10, it also houses maintenance facilities for aerospace companies. Burgess, in “Rehab for Hornets,” looks at how aircraft maintenance activity at this busy depot augments work at Navy Fleet Readiness Centers.