Retiring the Truman Early Is a Necessary Strategic Decision

If one had the wherewithal to do everything and there was no competition, strategy would hardly be necessary. The global maritime environment approached something like that for the U.S. Navy after the fall of the Soviet Union. Despite a force reduction from almost 600 ships to today’s fleet of less than 300, the lack of serious competition on the high seas allowed the Navy to focus almost exclusively on presence; its default “strategy” being to fulfill the requests for forces by the regional combatant commanders as best it could.

A series of documents widely viewed as strategies (the “…From the Sea” series, and 2007’s “A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower” and its successor) had more to do with strategic communication than with the deployment of forces or their size and characteristics. But the resurgence of Russia and the rise of China with its increasingly powerful navy, along with budgetary constrictions brought about by sequestration, have forced the Navy into a situation requiring difficult choices. The latest was just revealed in the 2020 budget—a controversial decision to forego the midlife refueling of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75).

There have been differing reports on how the Navy and the Department of Defense arrived at the decision, but regardless of what happened, the strategic choice is to take more risk with day-to-day presence so investments can be made to develop the ability to defeat the Chinese Navy if war breaks out. Such a decision probably should have been made 5–10 years ago, but it is now absolutely necessary.