Ritu Sharma
In the coming decade, the US Navy will be stretched thin to counter the burgeoning numerical strength of the Chinese PLA Navy in the Indo-Pacific. The US Navy that will deliver the wrath of the US beyond its border has an Achilles Heel—not the lack of warships but trained crew to man those warships.
The shortage of qualified mariners is forcing the US to sideline 17 support ships, impacting the logistics backbone of the force.
A plan drafted by the Military Sealift Command suggests that to resolve the shortage of qualified mariners, the US Navy will dock the vessels for extended maintenance periods as its crew is redistributed.
The “force generation reset” would involve 12 spearhead-class Expeditionary Fast Transports (EPF), 2 Lewis and Clark-class replenishment ships, 2 forward-deployed Navy Expeditionary Sea bases, and 1 fleet oiler.
The proposed plan awaits a nod from Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Lisa Franchetti. This would help cut the demand for 600-700 billets. Reports suggest that roughly 4,500 billets are needed for mariners across various US support ships, with a ratio of about 1.27 mariners per billet.
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