Oiler Grounding Leaves Red Sea Aircraft Carrier Without Gas

The USNS Big Horn's allision in the waters around the Arabian Penisula has left the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) without a source of replacement aviation fuel for the aircraft on the flight deck. How did Navy planners allow this kind of single point failure?
Retired Navy Commander Bryan McGrath rejoins the channel to discuss the details of how this happened and what the Navy is doing about it.
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[@byronharano2391]

Ward. Bring on Sal from What's going on with shipping? Sal been critical of US Navy lack of ship building facilities and poor compensation of Merchant Mariners. This is not just one ship, but a totality of circumstances failures which resulted in a logistical failure. Bravo Zulu Ward.

[@WardCarroll]

Sal’s been on my channel a bunch. Stay tuned.

[@michaelbarfield528]

Sal has seen the decline for almost 30 years from the end of the Cold War to the present....having served on one of those ships, he has spoken how the Peace Dividend has bought this nation to where we are now! Sal also noted the replacement oilers, the Lewis class has issues that have to be resolved such as mechanical and manpower issues....

[@bophame]

Will forward to my Naval aviator congressman.

[@TR4Ajim]

It comes down to this: Carriers=sexy, Oilers=not sexy. F-18s=sexy, Greyhounds=not sexy. Funding ALWAYS sees SEXY.

[@grizwoldphantasia5005]

Two things make me think of the 1930s US Navy (please note, I am not implying anything about leading up to war). * The US Navy had a severe shortage of oilers. * The US Navy had peace-aligned officers. Submarine skippers especially were way too cautious and had a high turnover rate. This time, they are selecting officers for DEI/CRT sensitivity.

[@daishan1234]

Carriers are also sitting ducks in the age of hypersonic missiles. Hypersonic missiles of which, afaik, the US still has not deployed one. Putting the US behind China, Russia, and Iran.

[@everettputerbaugh3996]

Sarcastically speaking, Congress is full of "dirty old men", what do you expect. More importantly, it is obvious to those of us who normally watch this (and related) channel(s) that Congress misinterpreted the concept of the "peace dividend" through the 1990s and closed shipyards instead of updating them.

[@cheddar2648]

MV22 = sexy but grounded Greyhound = not sexy, but retired

[@DogBeast221]

“Proper prior planning prevents piss poor performance…” -the 7 P’s of military logistics

[@babboon5764]

Its the 8th P that's the problem - Politicians

[@DogBeast221]

@@babboon5764 amen!

[@Paul-rd5pw]

Well stated👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻🥇

[@JJj-x3t]

Ward...first of all thanks...it's appreciated.... question logistics ships matter...I'm dumbstruck why the US is not on this big time....we need a host of other....logistics ships... having only one is unforgivable... tantamount of dereliction of duty. Woefully in need is a understatement

[@Ve-om7lf]

This is a problem decades in the making. The moment of logistics ships from the Navy proper to the Merchant Marine in 97 was compounded when they only funded 1.22 persons per billet instead of the 1.5 to meet the scheduling. MSC has been running their people and equipment ragged for almost 30 years. The Flag officers want money for their big Shiney new projects and because the Navy hasn't fought a war since 1945 the logistics train that was built then, and maintained during the cold War was sold off. We're grown comfortable being the biggest badest guy on the black and stopped putting in the work.

[@WALTERBROADDUS]

Cuz the nation is 35 trillion in debt and growing.... 💳

[@tomlee7651]

Oilers are USNS not Navy ships. They're very short handed have been for a long time.

[@Ve-om7lf]

@tomlee7651 kinda, sorta, somewhat. Yes MSC has been short handed and crews have been run ragged for almost 30 years. Yes, MSC employes civilians sailors. Those sailors however are a member of a uniform service of the United States and the MSC is a part of the US Navy table of organization and recives funding as a part of the US Navy budget...through FORCCOM if I'm rembering correctly, with the level of funding dictated by big Navy.

[@k53847]

@@Ve-om7lf And when the civilian sailors on the unarmed and un-escorted USNS ships refuse to sail into a battle zone the Navy's plan for combat logistics is what?

[@AlanToon-fy4hg]

I also wonder how many logistic ships could have been afforded for what was wasted on the Little Crappy Ships fiasco?

[@MrLemurman]

How about the BILLIONS given to Ukrain for starters....

[@jimheimerl1637]

Oh god, LCS… what a glaring error in the space-time continuum. I was absolutely shocked that ANY keels were laid for those junkheaps.

[@jimheimerl1637]

@@MrLemurmanAnd yeah, the money spigot to Launderville keeps flowing. People think that conflict is good vs bad - it’s actually *really bad vs slightly worse than really bad*.

[@cheddar2648]

only about 100 TAKE's

[@walterbordett2023]

Sal Mercagliano at What is Going on with Shipping is beating this drum as well.

[@nathandanner4030]

Also see the Lack of ICEBREAKERS in the USCG.

[@WarblesOnALot]

G'day, Nivertheemoind, Olde Bean ! Have ye not heard, The plan is to Burn ever more Fossil Fuel, And rely on Anthropogenic Global Warming Duly Melting all that Pesky Ice... No remaining Ice, Renders your Perceived lack of Icebreakers Totally Irrelevant...(!) Hmmmnnn ? Suck it up Cupcake. Snowflakes are Out of Fashion. Such is life, Have a good one... Stay safe. ;-p Ciao !

[@bryonslatten3147]

Global warming will take care of that. 😆

[@ДушманКакдела]

USCG just bought a few more

[@lowellmccormick6991]

I so old that I remember when James Webb (Secretary of the Navy, not the telescope guy) resigned after less than a year, saying that he refused to be the Secretary of the Navy with less than 350 ships (1988).

[@WALTERBROADDUS]

That number is is unrealistic as the 600 number. You're not doing that any post Cold War. And you are not doing it with a national debt of 35 trillion and climbing.

[@nachoakajrod]

Never should have let the AOE’s go. Golden bear AOE-1 Sacramento was the first and best.

[@nigelappleton2963]

You'r not the only ones with problems, the Royal Navy is in even worse condition. The front line in any war should be manned by politicians then may be they would pay more attention!

[@scottcooper4391]

THe politicians are probably too old (or otherwise unqualified) - put the Politicians OFFSPRING into the frontlines and you'll get their attention....

[@JeffBilkins]

Ward, feels like time for a collab with Sal from 'What is going on with shipping;, he's been going about this and related for ages.

[@MichaelK.-xl2qk]

How can they be embarrassed when they are without shame? They have had the chutzpah to draw a "peace dividend" for themselves, while engaging in The First Gulf War, The Kosovo War, The Afghanistan War (the longest in American history), The Iraq War, The Syrian War, and a multitude of other smaller conflicts.

[@michaeltichonuk2176]

I read our oilers had become a weak link years ago....

[@danapeck5382]

Decades ago

[@brentdennard6722]

@@michaeltichonuk2176 yeah I didn’t (and wouldn’t) know until this video that the commercial support vessels were downsized after “the end of the Cold War” edit: where’d you read that?

[@FlyingDutchmanPodcast]

It seems I seen an article in Proceedings few years back discussing our lack of supporting ships.

[@Eleolius]

Nothing was done about it years ago.

[@operator0]

@@danapeck5382 To that point I have a story about when I was stationed on a USNS supply ship back in the 90s. Our ship, USNS Sirius, T-AFS-8, supplied dry, chilled, and frozen goods, but we also had a single underway refueling station where we could do an oiler's job on a limited basis. We were in the Persian Gulf and one of these oilers on deployment in the Gulf had some kind of engineering casualty that essentially knocked them out of commission and sent them back to dry dock. I was told one of their boilers blew, but I don't know what really happened. What I do know is that, apparently, this was the only oiler in the Gulf at the time, and we were to try and pick up the slack for them until another could get there. As I said, we only had a single refueling station, and we didn't carry very much of it to begin with. Certainly not nearly the amount of fuel that a dedicated oiler could carry. We spent the next three weeks making multiple fueling UNREPS a day, but only between runs back to Dubai, or Qatar to get more fuel. I'm quite certain that whole situation messed up the fleet's redyness just a couple years after the First Persian Gulf War. You would figure that the Navy brass would have learned something from that situation, but I suppose not.

[@lowellmccormick6991]

Send it to China to get repaired. I'm pretty sure that they have plenty of shipyards that could do the work. I worked on ships at Avondale Shipyard in New Orleans. It was the largest employer in Louisiana until it was shut down after the LPD ships it built were shipped off to Pascagoula, Ms. to be finished. I've read that there are only 5 major shipyards left in the US. I hope that this info is incorrect. From what you said here, shipyards were shut down as part of the "Peace Dividend". How much did the US budget go down from the savings from the "Peace Dividend"? We now have a surplus, right? It's not just the loss of shipyards that is the problem. It's the loss of intellectual skills necessary to build ships. From the designers, engineers and support personnel in the office to the fitters & welders & technicians in the yard, it's all disappearing. That's not something you can replace with the flip of a switch. It takes time. The way it's going, we don't have much time.

[@Mikell-h2c]

Amen

[@WALTERBROADDUS]

🧚 how do you plan to pay for all this? Everyone seems to expect the oiler fairy.

[@Mikell-h2c]

@@WALTERBROADDUS they built a couple new ones, but they don’t work just more junk. They’re in dry dock.

[@williammoreno2378]

China? 😅😅😅

[@lowellmccormick6991]

@@williammoreno2378 Should I have included /s for sarcasm?

[@Carlito100S11]

The Surface Navy has been underfunded across the board for some time now.

[@GSXR750ization]

You can have a mediocre fighting force but it you can supply them with unlimited resources they can appear formidable. You can have the best fighting force in the world and if you cannot supply them they quickly become combat ineffective. It's a good thing this has happened. It needs to be corrected immediately.

[@WALTERBROADDUS]

Not going to happen.

[@jetdriver]

I’ve got a a crazy idea. Return the two mothballed Supply class AOEs to service. It’s was beyond stupid to retire them in the first place. Then commission as a priority project another 4 AOEs.

[@ryankc3631]

No spare oilers. Unbelievable. Well, other than the oiler CO, who is losing their job? SECNAV? No chance.

[@CPO-Snarky]

Start with the worst failure of all, SECDEF.

[@doctordetroit4339]

Look who the CNO is.....another DIE hire

[@ohrazda1956]

Nice sterile update of the facts. I recall Rear Admiral Alfred Mahan reflected in 1890, "Fuel stands first in importance of the resources of the fleet. Without ammunition ship may run away, hoping to fight another day, but without fuel she can neither run, nor reach her station, nor remain on it, if remote, nor fight." This statement was long before CVA's, nuclear powered ships and missiles. Perhaps private investment could create a Hertz Rent-a-Tanker fleet? [12:00]

[@graeme0]

So the mighty US Navy has only one refuelling ship in that area???? Really????? Just a tad near sighted don't you think... China just retargetted

[@wolfgangpreier9160]

China? More like Houthis, Iran and Russia.

[@Fury-161]

They can't man them, no one is joining. The Sealift command just announced it's laying up 17 ships because they can't get anyone to man the ships. Wokeness is a cancer. Until that ends, this problem is only going to get worse.

[@WALTERBROADDUS]

There isn't a magical Oiler fairy. 🧚

[@nomorerainbows]

They have no refueling ships in the area. That work.

[@MrYaxalot]

@@WALTERBROADDUSApparently nobody capable of planning ahead at all as well.

[@willj487]

More budget? Ship building important? Absolutely. The problem is that everything the Navy touches when it comes to ships seems like a shit show. Need structural changes more than more money.

[@ctrlaltdebug]

ANd we need to spend resources censoring social media - got "unable to post reply" before redacting prior comment.

[@thatguy7085]

This was known last week… ‘What is up with Shipping’… The PhD info for shipping… he teaches the Navy.

[@robertdonnell8114]

Amateurs discuss tactics, professionals discuss logistics.

[@AlanToon-fy4hg]

Thanks to the sorry civilian leadership of the past 30 years and the brass that went along with them.

[@billbrockman779]

I first heard allision on “What is going on with shipping.” Just this year I think.

[@michaelmeehan9083]

We also took 3 very capable shipyards offline in Mare Island, Long Beach, and Charleston...

[@s.porter8646]

Hea Captain, great vid...I have to laugh really loud and hard, I served on AOE-1, wife was on AOE-10, and they decommissioned/deactivated these...cause everything is nuclear...cept the aircraft, and escorts....1991 failing thought process... A) increase spending to the navy 300%, or B) cut another 50% of capability, and stay out of the global police force.

[@bouncealot7074]

One of the reasons why there is a shortage of MSC ships is the lack of available crews to man them. Until they sort out the reasons why MSC is struggling with manpower there will be a lack of ships to support the navy.

[@rustyshaklford9557]

If I were a young man starting out, I could think of a couple dozen jobs I'd rather have.

[@williamlloyd3769]

Why didn’t NAVSEA already have a clean sheet frigate design already? Not as if a need hadn’t been identified after the LCS programs flamed out years ago?

[@jimallen8186]

Seems a misspeak to me to say “the Navy” and “Department of Defense” have the ship building capacity that they wanted. No, they have the capacity politicians dictated to them and instructed them they “wanted.” This is a Navy problem but it is not a Navy cause and it is also a problem for beyond the Navy.

[@brentdennard6722]

Unbelievable and unacceptable. The Navy has shown an incredible weak point here. Why is one oiler providing for a whole carrier group, especially in this region? What the hell are they thinking?

[@nomorerainbows]

Because of massive crippling personnel shortages. Guess what's causing that.

[@WALTERBROADDUS]

Because we live in a real world with a 35 trillion-dollar debt. We can't spend it all on oilers.

[@GusMahn]

@@nomorerainbows Because they've worked hard to alienate their recruiting base?

[@nomorerainbows]

@@GusMahn Correcto-mundo.

[@nomorerainbows]

@@WALTERBROADDUS That's not why no one is joining, but you are of course correct about the debt.

[@JohnGuzik]

Why wage war against a warship that you're not going to be able to sink anyhow, when you can attack a single undefended asset and create a bigger impact.

[@danam0228]

Japan did just that, but our shipyards had capacity to build more supply ships quickly and build the ships needed to protect them

[@motashaiye]

Wars are about disabling not destroying. You'd think you Americans would understand that since you couldn't destroy Taliban's caves nor disabling them.

[@infinidominion]

​@@motashaiyebecause the covert program was to empower the Taliban, all the while claiming that they're fighting them..

[@bigdaddytomcat7985]

I served on the Uss Detroit. We were never unprotected when we were attached to a battle group. we were always close to the Carrier Well protected

[@danam0228]

@@bigdaddytomcat7985 on the What's Going on With Shipping channel, Sal explains that lthese tankers are not attached to a battle group and are manned by mariners, not navy personnel

[@randywise5241]

Logistics is most important. Tactics need a proper supply and backup force to function.

[@-KingOfKhaos]

Only one oiler 🙄 Who authorized that as the plan???

[@nathandanner4030]

Who ever is Commander in Chief...anyone know who that is?

[@CPO-Snarky]

@@nathandanner4030 CINC doesn't even know who that is.

[@daleferber2096]

It has been that way since the 90's when all replenishment ships went to USNS

[@RussetPotato]

@@nathandanner4030the commander in chief did not write the plan

[@WALTERBROADDUS]

You can't send stuff you don't have. You have one, because you only have one. You either lack the manpower or the rest are under repair.

[@stringlarson1247]

These underlying issues are 40+ years in the making. "US companies" started gutting our manufacturing capabilities by off-shoring production (Laissez-faire Capitalism) starting in the 60s-70s leading to the issues we face today.

[@ctrlaltdebug]

Don't blame Capitalism when the government creates an uncompetitive business environment. The alternative was going bankrupt and asking for government handouts.

[@jimiraybeckton]

Hey Mooch, my name is Jason. I met you at Oceana last weekend (one of hundreds I’m sure!). I’m the guy who works at GE, plays Gibson guitars, and also builds model aircraft. I showed you the decals I’d gotten for my in-progress C model Hornet, which is an exact replica of Hozer’s Hornet from Desert Fox. Did he have anything to say about it? You took a picture of me holding the decals so you could show him later. Anyway, cheers from here in the Cincinnati area and it was a pleasure to meet you at Oceana last weekend!

[@RamonPalomino85]

Great briefing, Mooch! I, too, feel a little embarrassed that the Navy adopted the "Just in time" supply chain strategy. Please read Peter S. Goodman's book on supply chain. It should apply to the military as well. ⚓️🦅🇺🇸

[@simonamerica1]

😢😢 Congressional law prevents the US Navy and Coast Guard from getting ships built in Korea or Japan for HALF the cost and 1/2 the time! 😢😢

[@scottcooper4391]

As they covered during the video - are the Korean / Japanese ships equal to US when SHTF ?

[@cptjeff1]

@@scottcooper4391 Yes. They're modern, high tech economies with higher quality manufacturing than ours. To say that they're inferior is just jingoistic garbage. US industry is just bloated and corrupt. You know the FREMM that we're turning into the Constellation Class? One of the things they're doing is redesigning every single part to be imperial rather than metric. How does that improve combat effectiveness, survivability, or do anything other than just bloat the budget? The money is there. The Navy, along with every other element of the US Military, has a massively bloated budget. In real dollars we're spending more than we've spent at any time in US history outside of WWII. But we're not getting our money's worth, in large part due to the corruption and incompetence of military contractors.

[@darthawesomness]

@@scottcooper4391 For Oilers and support ships, certainly so. Considering we originally going to take an Italian ship for our new frigate if I recall, yes. But the Japanese do not have a big lobbying presence in Washington, and I don't think they carry a mind presence that other ship building companies might.

[@warshipsdd-2142]

Just like with Robt. Macnamara in my days, "efficiency" became valued over warfighting needs.

[@beerdrinker6452]

Allision. Great word. Terrific channel. Congress questions logistics. Congress cannot spell logistics.

[@richardboll8763]

The oilers keep the DDGs fueled. That’s the carrier’s air defense, anti-submarine defense.

[@johnarnold893]

I'm over 77 and I never heard of an illision either. In fact it's an obsolete word. If it wasn't you would see it used every time a car hit a telephone pole.

[@brentdennard6722]

@@johnarnold893 I mean, one could argue that it has been an archaic term since Sir Isaac Newton came up with the laws of motion lol I like fancy specific terms myself, I wish allision was used more to differentiate. Back in the day, the dictionary was thiccc.

[@DougPoulton]

@johnarnold893 not an obsolete word. I describes the Harris campaign perfectly.

[@WarblesOnALot]

G'day, Dig out a thing called a Dictionary...; And then Use the CORRECT SPELLING... The word is ALLISION.... In the sense that the Sailor-Boys Call it a COLLISION... When Two of their Floatie-Boats are on the Water, and both Vessels are moving are Moving...; When they Run into Each other... When one of their Vessels, then bashes into the Bottom of the Sea - because the Seabed is stationary...; They call that, an "ALLISION". Not a Co... llision, Whereinat two vessels Co-operatively move so as to each Impact The other. "A" as a prefix Means "Without" or "Against" (See "Atheism" - Without Theism or Anti Theism, take your pick ; Pendants have argued that one for centuries...) My guess is that someone once decided to "save face" in an Enquiry somewhere, sometime by claiming that their Boat - stuck on a Rock or a Sandbar... "Did not 'Collide', with the Seabed or Sandbar or Rock - there was merely an ALLISION Between the Hull, and the Obstacle to it's freedom of Navigation...(!)" Or, words to that effect. Beaurocratic Doublespeak... Which is, By definition...; "Doubleplus Ungood"...(!). {Reference to "Newspeak"..., as described in "1984...", a Novel written in 1948, by George Orwell....}. There ye go then And now ye know... Such is life. Have a good one... Stay safe. ;-p Ciao !

[@pinverarity]

Elision. Not at all extinct, particularly its cognate, the verb elide.

[@bobkoroua]

​@@DougPoulton You mean the way Harris has published policy and the other candidate still only has a concept of a health policy after ten years of sitting stationary? 😉

[@danielwoodard680]

Always the best sources of info about what is occurring. Always the clearest presentation of facts. Never talks from personal political bias. Just clear, concise, perspectives.

[@Ve-om7lf]

Propper prior planning prevents piss poor peeformance. Why did the Navy start building a ship without a finalized design? Why do we have a logistics chain that is balanced on a knife edge? Why has our pre positioned weapons stocks shrunk? Because their is no plan to actually fight a war. We've had 3 generations of officers who have been trained in a world after "the end of history" where there was never going to be a need for the navy to do anything but sit back and lauch a few missles and have planes run sorties in a pre planned conveyor belt fashion. We have no plan for the Navy to fight a war because we haven't planned for one because no officer was trained to think that was a possibility. When you have no proper prior planning we get piss poor peeformance. I just hope the right lessons are re-learned and fixes made before it costs lives.

[@grizwoldphantasia5005]

No sense of urgency. Gold-plated beats useful and cheap, to their minds. CRT/DEI, LGBTQWERTY beat fitness and morale.

[@jonathanwbecker3073]

The new Navy just like the new commercial truck driver's

[@bdwright8884]

OK, out of the Billions of dollars spent, no one saw this coming?

[@dbblues.9168]

“You will not find it difficult to prove that battles, campaigns, and even wars have been won or lost primarily because of logistics.” - General Dwight D. Eisenhower, USA.

[@bearowen5480]

I recall that this was an axiomatic emphasis in my educational curriculum at the Naval War College, that logistics wins wars. "He with the most forklifts wins." Conversely, this obviously means that a lack of logistics capabilities loses wars. Right? Brian says that we are currently in effect on a war footing. This apparent single point failure is jeopardizing our operational capability in the Middle East. I find this is alarming! Japan's strategic impetus for Pearl Harbor and the commencement of WWII in the Pacific between the US and the Japanese Empire was arguably triggered by logistics pressue applied by US petroleum supply sanctions against Japan. The USS Big Horn incident apparently threatens to nullify our carrier strike force in the Persian Gulf region. This exposes the thinness of our logistics tail for world wide maritime protection operations and simultaneously our war fighting capability. Shouldn't this be tremendously concerning to our National Command Authority that we have inadequate logistical redundancy?

[@Dori-Ma]

The FFG-62 program really should've picked the F100 design from Navantia. /smh

[@owbvbsteve]

Zummwalt, LCS, and the new frigate. 30 years of complete naval incompetence. Then navy has more money then the #3-7 militaries in the world. Why in the heck can we not get a decent hull in the water. The tax payers are the ones paying for poor for site and management of billions of dollars. If you can’t build a frigate, fund the pathetic LCS program or figure out some way to make the Zumwalt work what good are the Admiralds?

[@blueskiestrevor5200]

The single biggest reason we have won wars in the past was superior logistics. And yet it's always the thing most neglected in peacetime because it's not flashy

[@dcataj5085]

Nobody admits the real cost.

[@curtbeckner8163]

Ah! Just in time (JIT) logistics bites again! Was in a class 1996 led by AF Col preaching JIT as the New Way for US Combat resupply. Almost washed me from the class over my adamant assertion that it works for Walmart, but Walmart ain't in the business of defending the country

[@MAdams-ey4if]

I don't think anybody legitimately in the know about the US MIC asks ANY questions about "where's the money coming from". The whole point of Empire is you don't have to ask that question!

[@johnstark4723]

Start by not overpaying on parts for everything. That includes ship construction. Open new shipyards. Hold vendors accountable for delays and cost overruns and quit changing things during a ships build unless its absolutely necessary like a design flaw.

[@user-qf6yt3id3w]

I used to think the end of US hegemony was a bad thing because the world would end up with a bunch of wars. I still think it's a bad thing but I'm starting to think it's unavoidable.

[@EfficientRVer]

Too bad a carrier isn't fast enough to be refueled by a KC-135. At least one service branch which can get fuel wherever it needs it. Anyone who thinks we're not already throwing money at US Navy problems, hasn't been paying attention for the last half a century. In return, we get certain things done very competently, at extremely high cost. And some things done very incompetently, at extremely high cost. Quite simply, running the Navy in a way to avoid ever losing a ship due to not overspending to prevent that, will cause us to lose control of the seas, and lose our ability to project power. I'm not so naive to think that we'll ever build 3x the number of shpis, each at 1/3 the cost. But if we don't aim for that, we'll never build 1.6x the ships at 0.75x the cost, which might actually be worth paying the price (1.2x) for.

[@EfficientRVer]

Start your think tanks pondering what will happen when a bit of incompetence, combined with a bit of bad luck, maybe magnified by some Bozo posting operational info on social media, costs us a ship or two. Remember what happened when the first Space Shuttle was lost? Chaos and shutdown for a couple of years. Then when the second one was lost? Almost business as usual, except for losing the reluctance to just scrap the whole idea as not having been worth it. The US Navy has kept putting more and more eggs, in fewer and fewer baskets. It's too bad that Congress doesn't have many people left, who can really put on their thinking caps. Suggesting that they just throw money at it, to bail out the lack of previous deep thinking by both the Navy and Congress, has been the Navy's policy for far too long. I'm not an isolationist, but I'm also not a control freak. The US Navy enjoys trying to turn all Americans into global-scale control freaks. Having never known anything but being "top dog" internationally, it is an easy drug for the military industrial complex to hook us on. Our lives will change a lot more if a carrier group is sunk, than if a handful of Houthi missiles get through into a war zone and superficially wound an ally of ours who themselves have been misbehaving and ignoring our own national interests. Going to the hottest of hot zones, without our own national security at stake, is getting to be a more and more dangerous game.

[@lyfandeth]

Using a Saudi port to replace a critical piece of equipment? Reminds me of a line in a mob movie: "Of course I can do that for you. But you must remember, one day I will call you, and you must return the favor."

[@who2u333]

So the Navy needs ships? Shocked. However, some group has been screaming "massive debt", so ...

[@burprobrox9134]

The problem is the inefficiencies in the procurement process, too much wasted money on new technologies. We spend enough, we just don’t get the value. Just build some basic carriers, stick to what is already proven

[@carlmontney7916]

Ward, another informative video. While I have no doubt that our Navy will answer any call that comes in. I wonder how long they can stay on the phone. Our logistics situation seems very Short-Sighted right now and vulnerable to failure. One would think, based on our past history in wars and other struggles. That the country who has the best logistics and support behind them ends up victorious. I sincerely hope we haven't forgotten the message of Pearl harbor. That we haven't become complacent and unprepared. Thanks again Ward. Great insight and coverage as usual.

[@glenn5328]

So this is why you need to help Ukraine. If you don’t help your friends and allies then when you need help from an ally you might get a negative response. We are so much stronger when we stand together….we need the USA……but the USA needs NATO……..this is a lesson to be learned.

[@stuartelliston]

I'm 69 years olde & I've never heard that word before. Olision. Sounds like someone made it up.😂

[@Kakkoii_ne]

One of the problems that I see in ship building is that contractors always under bid, then have cost overruns, are inefficient, and the entire program is rife with corruption. That has been the trend for years.

[@Tet68]

It is amazing to me you guys loved your jobs so much you continued to do them even after retirement. I hope you will testify before Congress about this but I am not optimistic they would understand the message.

[@michaelmeehan9083]

"Back in the day"...we used to have USN Oilers run by Navy personnel.

[@matthewmoore5698]

Should have called it USS Fog horn leg horn!

[@CallsignEskimo-l3o]

What's behind Bryan's head? Does he have a cardboard cutout of himself in his living room?

[@whya2ndaccount]

Between you and Sal, great coverage on the "hidden" / "unsexy" issues of logistics.

[@MultiCconway]

Many things come to mind. Not enough logistics ships (no depth/redundancy in theater). Hope this situation can be mitigated with Allied help. Maintenance capability forward including Tender Support and Drydocks available. The Fleet Tug shortage is being resolved slowly, but not sure if one is in that part of the theater. If this will be a Wake Up Call concerning Logistical Support, and organics Maintenance Support FORWARD ? . . We shall see! This situation's long recovery cycle will be exacerbated by the fact that the Navy NO LONGER runs that activity and therefore can make it happen quickly. The U.S. Navy is a SLAVE to the MIC, and in this case the service provider holds the customer HOSTAGE! Sad state of affairs. A whole different issue is how this incident was reported . . . OBFUSCATION pure and simple. What actually happened is just not going to be reported until THAT report is messaged to cover for someone. Thank You for covering this. THIS IS IMPORTANT . . . and is a symptom of a sick system!

[@ronunderwood5771]

What is MIC?

[@SerenityMae11]

Military Industrial Complex

[@WALTERBROADDUS]

Our allies have less capabilities than we do.

[@WALTERBROADDUS]

​@@ronunderwood5771military industrial complex. People have been spouting it since Eisenhower.

[@ronunderwood5771]

@@WALTERBROADDUS Ahhhh. I was brain-dead today. Too many acronyms. Have piles of them at work. I am well aware of the MIC. Thanks!

[@billbrockman779]

How was the Burke class so successful, and why has anything since then been such a problem? What changed?

[@Knox122771]

W e spend more than any other country as more than the next 10 countrys togather and we end up short and lacking everywhere.

[@freestylebagua]

Double the size of the submarine force and develop a naval variant of the B21 that will fit on the Ford class elevators

[@chuckwhitson654]

I wondered if you were going to cover this

[@cptjeff1]

The end of that conversation was, I'm sorry, absolute horseshit. Do you think the Koreans don't care about or have expertise in watertight compartments? Do you think redesigning the FREMM to turn every single part from metric into standard (a real thing they're doing) is necessary for effectiveness? They're building gold platers, and doing it poorly, when they need to be building workhorses. A frigate does not need to be a high end system that does everything perfectly. It has to be good enough and, importantly, cheap enough to build in large quantities. The US military is spending more money than we have since WWII in real dollars. That includes during hot wars in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq I and II. Money is not the issue. Corruption and incompetence are. People are getting quite rich off of the massive piles of money we're spending and have no incentive to speed up production or find efficiencies in design or construction. The procurement guys over at the Navy Yard are eying their next job working for those contractors, who will be happy to give them a no-show job for services rendered. The money is already there. The competence and patriotism are not.

[@whatintheworld6076]

This video just topped my day. Here lies the decaying empire.

[@SerenityMae11]

If you think THIS is bad, you should see ruSSia 💀

[@XxBloggs]

That's what you get from a military industrial complex that is allowed to charge $800 for a toilet seat in the 1980s.. they know they're going to get all the money to enrich themselves at the expense of the mission.

[@Mikell-h2c]

Amen

[@SerenityMae11]

You're mistaking USA for ruSSia

[@WALTERBROADDUS]

Well the non-military industrial complex has managed to rack up a 35 trillion dollar debt.

[@winstonsmith8482]

@@SerenityMae11 You're mistaken in thinking there's much of a difference between the two in this regard.

[@Rokmononov]

The MIC aren’t the ones who set procurement targets

[@pi.actual]

In the early 70's I spent a couple of years on an oiler. We were attached to a task group that included the Kitty Hawk in the gulf area during the Arab oil embargo of 1974 and yes, we were the only oiler. We figured when we ran out we'd head back to Subic but nope, they sent out a civilian tanker to refill us and we spent 90 days out there.

[@Mikell-h2c]

The US Navy is in serious decline. The US taxpayers need to hold leadership responsible for this naval catastrophe.

[@raz4371]

Maybe actually watch the video before commenting.

[@Mikell-h2c]

@@raz4371 don’t need to we all know the Navy a disaster

[@Mikell-h2c]

@@raz4371 the Navy is starting a submarine building program. Do you think these F ups are bad wait till they get that thing going industrial production is generational one generation to the next this has been severed

[@davect01]

The real issue is that we (the US) keeps trying to pretend we are not at war

[@mmoly-cj4bd]

By proxy.

[@dan3162]

Someone is not gonna be a Captain much longer

[@warped-sliderule]

The soft language "allision" is indicative of the Navy dodging it's failure of dutiful ship operations and failure to have contingencies for a critical capability. Whole carrier group is useless without fuel. The Navy is playing checkers. "Don't play checkers while your enemy plays chess." Sun Tzu and the Art of War... 🙂

[@ctrlaltdebug]

It's because "collision" would be too embarassing, so they chose a word that nobody knows. I remember the Submarine Connecticut had an underwater "collision" in the headlines.

[@doughuffman5790]

I was early retired at 47 y.o. By BRAC3. A senior nuclear engineering technician with engineer title and qualifications.

[@saboabbas123]

force reduction after vietnam, fall of USSR (end of cold war) and 20 years of Democrat Presidents since then?

[@FractionalMateo]

solid and sober reporting - thank you

[@richardwalter9055]

bring in the kids, they can do a better job. Can't wait for the solar powered submarines with screen doors. It's no wonder no one wants to enlist in the military, they have destroyed it with wokeness

[@WALTERBROADDUS]

I love how you folks kind of skip over the $35 trillion in debt. Wishing and hoping to build stuff is nice. Paying for it is different. 💳

[@mmoly-cj4bd]

We're printing so much money we're going to run out of paper.

[@sheldonlohr4352]

Kind of scary...houthis take out a couple logistics ships and US Navy goes into hiding....UFB.

[@matthewmcbride1379]

We are short of everything, oilers, mine sweepers, amphibs, etc... But we have enough money to study transexual mice.

[@johnhupp8444]

I worked for a company that produced steam turbines for over 100 years. We purchased GE’s navy steam turbine propulsion business and went on to build the main propulsion turbines for CVN 77, 78, and 79. In the meantime we were purchased by Siemens and within a few years we were informed that the factory would be closed. The navy portion of the business was sold to a company that had never made this type of equipment and they have been struggling. Just another nail in the coffin of our industrial base.

[@tbm3fan913]

Ah, now following up on the previous carrier episode where I mentioned that we lost a T-AO. Nuclear power is fine for a carrier but those Hornets need gas and lots of it. Former Chief Warrant told me during Desert Storm it was at least once a week to the pumps for a refill. Logistics, logistics, logistics.

[@luvr381]

You could spend five times our entire GDP on the Navy, or any other branch for that matter, and there'd be people saying the budget is insufficient.

[@carabela125]

There were previously several oilers of similar size in the "mothball fleet" of Suisun Bay. Unfortunately, all of them were sold for scrap metal ten years ago. Oops.

[@tmick7108]

I am a US Navy Veteran '77-'81 OS2 ASAC aboard the USS Detroit AOE-4 Fast Combat Support Ship (Decommissioned)"Beans Bullets & Black Oil". Where ever the Carrier Task Force went we went. Strategically we were known as a HVU High Value Unit meaning the blue forces would strike us when vulnerable. Obviously someone has dropped the ball in strategic planning, Pretty simple concept in military planning. As in the US Army logistics supply line is crucial from Napoleon to WWII well in US Navy parlance Unrep Underway Replenishment is the "Floating Walmart" to the fleet. "Superare Optimum".

[@pdxholmes]

I just can't get behind the idea that efficiency doesn't matter. We spend an OBSCENE amount on the military in this country. Our military budget is just crazy town large, bigger than the GDP's of a huge number of countries. There has to be a way to be efficient with that kind of money but still build the right capabilities. It's hard for me to get behind a bigger Navy budget when it feels like the Navy is using it's budget in questionable ways.

[@jimgrif5998]

As an old veteran, I must say that our new military, across the board, does not inspire confidence despite your cheerleading. I know misplaced government contributes heavily but not entirely. The military culture contributes mightily.

[@azcop2]

The military frequently relieves people for “The Loss of Confidence” for various failures. Seems to me that being this short sighted on refueling capacity is a failure that greatly threatens the Navy’s ability to fulfill its mission. If this isn’t a “Loss of Confidence”, I don’t know what is.

[@garysong8163]

As always very well done, very informative and enlightening. Should be a required watch by all the Senate and Congress. The USN needs to be modernized, expanded and increase numerically. Lessons learned after WW II the UK had to downsize their Navy and with it they are now a shadow of what they were before the war. The Navy is the most important military branch if we want to maintain our global influence. Areas of concern are the Arctic, Indian Ocean and SEA, Pacific Atlantic and Mediterranean Again great bideo

[@BudaPeter]

I was under the impression that "grounding" a vessel got the Captain relieved almost immediately. I remember when an Aircraft Carrier (Kitty Hawk, maybe?) got grounded in Oakland/Alameida sometime in the late 70's early 80's and there was an uproar when the Captain was relieved as it was nobody's fault, the harbor had somehow changed. Maybe that's why they are using "new words" to describe the grounding? Budapeter

[@wacojones8062]

Coral head collision is possible, unmarked containers on the bottom, unmarked sunken ship least possible and unmarked hostile placed item to interfere with naval operations.