Posted by
ET1 United States Navy on Monday, October 08, 2007 2:02:14 AM
Mike Burleson: Waiting for the Navy's Petraeus
"I would dearly love to see a Navy admiral with the courage to stand up to the status quo, as America's new commander in Iraq General David Petraeus has done for the Army, to answer the challenges of modern war at sea..."
No Admiral in the United States Navy is willing to buck the junior enlisted members. Those who are willing to live in the real world. You call for making a metal container that keeps sailors dry obsolete. I can tell you that even if sailors like to swim, they will not go on all swim WestPac's, Med cruises and the North Atlantic is way too cold.
Unfortunately, advancements in active and passive sonar, Helo ASW platforms and actively homing torpedoes have made them more vulnerable. The good news for "pig boats" is that they will be obsolete the day after surface shipping is obsolete.
Another unfortunate truth in the real world is that air power has become the determining factor in the outcome of major engagements. That means that aircraft carriers are decades from being obsolete. Amphibious assaults need air cover, SAG's (Surface Action Groups) need air cover. Even the lowly jarhead on the beach needs air cover. Anything less than the most powerful CAG (Carrier Air Group) will not do the job. Having served on three Super Carriers (USS Constellation CV-64, USS Enterprise CVN-65, USS Ranger CV-61) leaves me cold at the thought that concern for money will cost us control of the worlds major sea lanes.
You need not be concerned that Iran or North Korea will employ an effective submarine force as a tool to deny access to commerce via the sea. Recent history has shown that any nation with anti-ship missiles can endanger ships at sea and the commerce they engage in.
During my tour aboard the USS Henry B. Wilson (DDG-7) and the USS Fletcher (DD-992), we detected and engaged the most advanced submarines in the world (ours), well out side the range of any conventional ability of theirs to attack us.
Judging from the tenor of your article, your response not doubt will be, well then we couldn't attack them. I say that since in your article you failed to mention ASW Helo's and ASROC systems.
By the way, an aircraft carrier is a metal bowl to land air craft on. It is the systems to project power that become obsolete. I know, the only ship I ever served on less than twenty years old was the Fletcher.