By Jason Sherman
InsideDefense.com, 04 February 2006
The Defense Department has not decided where to homeport the additional aircraft carrier it plans to shift from the Atlantic to the Pacific Fleet, according to a senior Pentagon official and naval analysts.
A final verdict will be shaped over the next year by powerful domestic political forces, budget considerations and Navy requirements, these sources say.
The 2005 Quadrennial Defense Review, set to be unveiled tomorrow, includes a new plan to increase the number of aircraft carriers in the Pacific region to six ships as part of the U.S. military's effort to help shape the decisions of countries at “strategic crossroads” -- language targeted at China.
“The vision is clear: We've got to get more forces out there,” said a senior defense official.
This new policy is expected to set in motion a bureaucratic and political tussle over which East Coast port will lose an aircraft carrier, and what port on the West Coast or in the Pacific Ocean will receive the additional carrier.
“There will not be a specific decision that comes up to the [defense] secretary that says, ‘This is where you want to go,'” said the senior defense official. “Things have to happen at U.S. Pacific Command [and] with the Navy. This will be mushy, I think, at least for a year.”
As part of the Defense Department's Global Posture Review, which began in 2001, Pentagon officials have been considering options for increased naval presence in the Asia-Pacific region. Senior Navy officials in the last year floated the idea of placing an additional aircraft carrier in Hawaii or Guam. The Pentagon has also considered other options, officials say, including home porting in Everett, WA, as well as placing a second aircraft carrier in Japan. And naval analysts say additional options could include assigning an aircraft carrier to San Diego or even Singapore.
Ronald O'Rourke, a naval exert at the Congressional Research Service, said in an interview today that a number of factors likely will be considered by the Navy as it determines its preference: the distance between the candidate port and Taiwan; the price tag for construction at a facility required to accommodate an aircraft carrier; quality of life for sailors at the new location; and access to ship maintenance and opportunities for training with other naval forces.
In a Jan. 10 report, “China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities -- Background and Issues for Congress,” O'Rourke also notes the straight-line distances between the ports the Navy is considering and the Taiwan Strait. These are: Yokosuka, Japan, 1,076 miles; Guam, 1,336 miles; Singapore, 1,794 miles; Pearl Harbor, HI, 4,283 miles; Everett, 5,223 miles; and San Diego, 5,933 miles.
Depending on their average travel speeds, ships based in Guam, Japan and Singapore would reach Taiwan in two to four days; the trip from Hawaii would take six to nine days; and from the U.S. West Coast travel time would be seven to 12 days after leaving port, the report states.
Domestic political factors will also be important. Lawmakers from Florida last year rolled back a Pentagon effort to remove an aircraft carrier stationed in their state. Sen. John Warner (R-VA), the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the senior senator from Virginia, jealously guards the other East Coast aircraft carrier port in Norfolk, VA, from which a ship could be taken.
Lawmakers from Hawaii also are expected to wield considerable influence over the final decision. Sen. Daniel Inouye is the senior Democrat on the Senate defense appropriations subcommittee; Sen. Daniel Akaka (D) is on the Senate Armed Services Committee. And Rep. Neil Abercrombie is a senior Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee.
Both California and Washington also have influential members who could make a case for the additional aircraft carrier in their state. Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA) is chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) is chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) is on the Senate Appropriations Committee and Rep. Norm Dicks (D-WA) is an influential member of the House defense appropriations subcommittee.
While Guam's location may give it an advantage, its sole representative in Congress, Madeleine Bordallo (D), has no vote on the House floor.
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Citation: Jason Sherman. "DOD Mulls Shift of Carrier to Pacific," InsideDefense.com, 04 February 2006.
Original URL: http://www.military.com/Content/Printer_Friendly_Version/1,11491,,00.html?passfile=&page_url=%2Ffeatures%2F0%2C15240%2C87041%2C00%2Ehtml&passdirectory_file=%2Fnewsfiles%2F87041%2Ehtm
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