{"id":32820,"date":"2020-02-28T14:28:19","date_gmt":"2020-02-28T14:28:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2020\/02\/28\/should-the-us-army-pay-for-sealift\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T22:35:43","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:35:43","slug":"should-the-us-army-pay-for-sealift","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/naval\/2020\/02\/28\/should-the-us-army-pay-for-sealift\/","title":{"rendered":"Lawmaker asks Esper: Should the Army pay for sealift?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 With bills piling up for the U.S. Navy, between manning and training a growing fleet and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/naval\/2019\/12\/10\/nuclear-deterrent-still-the-us-navys-top-priority-no-matter-the-consequences-top-officer-says\/\" target=_blank>recapitalizing ballistic missile submarines<\/a>, an influential Republican lawmaker is wondering if it is time for the nation\u2019s ground force to chip in for its own transportation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During a hearing before the House Armed Services Committee, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/congress\/2017\/02\/15\/interview-rep-rob-wittman-the-latest-in-a-line-of-influential-chairmen\/\" target=_blank>Rep. Rob Wittman<\/a>, R-Va., asked Defense Secretary Mark Esper if the Army should shoulder the financial burden of recapitalizing the aging sealift fleet. In the event of a significant conflict, about 90 percent of the Army\u2019s equipment would be transported by sea. But the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/naval\/2019\/12\/31\/the-us-military-ran-the-largest-stress-test-of-its-sealift-fleet-in-years-its-in-big-trouble\/\" target=_blank> sealift fleet<\/a> charged with performing that mission is woefully unprepared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYou stated that of the strategic necessities for our nation, that B-21 [next-generation bomber] was responsibility of the Air Force,\u201d Wittman said, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/naval\/2020\/02\/10\/defense-secretary-esper-says-new-us-missile-sub-is-the-navys-bill-setting-up-a-fight-with-congress\/\" target=\"_blank\">referring to an exclusive interview Esper gave<\/a> to Defense News. \u201cThe Columbia-class [submarine] was the responsibility of the Navy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSince surge sealift capacity is the ability for the Army to get to the fight, should it not be the Army\u2019s responsibility to fund surge sealift capacity?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the interview cited by Wittman, Esper said the Navy must find a way to pay for the Columbia-class program out of its shipbuilding account, which Navy leaders have warned for years would put significant pressure on every other shipbuilding program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first boat, which includes many nonrecurring costs for first-in-class production engineering, among other things, will cost in excess of $14 billion paid over three years, according to fiscal 2021 budget documents.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/naval\/2020\/02\/25\/trump-called-for-a-350-ship-fleet-but-his-budget-would-fall-short-of-even-obama-era-goals\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"178\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Normandy.jpg_d5d906.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Trump called for a 350-ship fleet, but his budget falls short of even Obama-era goals<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">President Trump&#039;s ambitions of a much larger fleet aren&#039;t reflected in his budget proposals, according to five years of budget documents.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Esper, in response to Wittman, said he agreed that recapitalizing sealift was of vital importance, but admitted he has not looked at having the Army pay for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI completely agree with you on that sealift issue,\u201d the former Army secretary said. \u201cI\u2019ve been concerned about it for a few years now. With regard to your specific question, I have not looked at that with regard to who should pay [for sealift]. It\u2019s traditionally been a Navy bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cEach of the services pays bills that they argue should not be theirs. The Air Force, for example, doesn\u2019t like the pass-through [money that goes to a lot of classified] programs. Army has concerns on its front.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Esper added that the Department of Defense would have to appropriately fund the Navy to produce everything it needs. \u201cI think at the end of the day, what you have to do is find a solution going forward so that we can fund the Navy we need, and that includes not just surface combatants but that includes the strategic sealift,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"5239\" height=\"3493\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/24_coverjump_sealift.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-52209\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/24_coverjump_sealift.jpg.jpg 5239w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/24_coverjump_sealift.jpg.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/24_coverjump_sealift.jpg.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/24_coverjump_sealift.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/24_coverjump_sealift.jpg.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/24_coverjump_sealift.jpg.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 5239px) 100vw, 5239px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Ships assigned to the Maritime Administration\u2019s Ready Reserve Force are moored in Alameda, Calif., on Sept. 28, 2016. These 40-year-old-plus steam ships are maintained to be ready for deployment in five days or less. (Petty Officer 2nd Class Billy Ho\/U.S. Navy)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>Extra $120 billion<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What that funding looks like is shaping up to be an area of fundamental disagreement between the DoD and the Navy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In testimony Thursday, the Navy\u2019s acting secretary, Thomas Modly, told House lawmakers that assuming there will be a flat budget in FY21, the Navy will need an extra $120-130 billion over the next 10 years to fund all the service\u2019s efforts that will go toward the Navy and Marine Corps integrated force structure assessment, which includes sealift.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But Esper has been reluctant to realign the budget to help the Navy\u2019s recapitalization efforts. Esper told Defense News prior to the FY21 budget rollout that he had to consider the whole force, not just the Navy\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe\u2019ve got to build the entire, the total force because we fight as a total force,\u201d Esper said. \u201cOne thing that our war gaming and analysis will look at is the total force fight. You just don\u2019t fight one service. You don\u2019t fight the Army, you don\u2019t fight the Air Force, you don\u2019t fight the Navy \u2014 you fight the team, the joint team.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/breaking-news\/2020\/02\/09\/defense-secretary-mark-esper-on-how-the-navy-can-get-to-355-ships\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/esper_navy_1.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Defense Secretary Mark Esper on how the Navy can get to 355 ships<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">In an exclusive interview with Defense News, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper makes the case of how and why the Navy can hit 355 ships by 2030.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, in testimony Thursday, Modly reiterated that despite an internal effort to find ways to pay for more of the Navy\u2019s recapitalization and growth needs, it would likely take a larger Navy top line in the end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe have to look internally at our own organization and there are many things that we do \u2014 the way we operate, the way our business processes are set up, the business system structures that we have \u2014 that inhibit our organization to be as agile as it needs to be,\u201d Modly told House lawmakers. \u201cThere are overhead structures that are associated with that we don\u2019t need, and we need to funnel that into modernization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think, ultimately, we can dig very deep to find some of that, but at some point there is going to have to be a broader discussion about the higher top line for the Navy. And that\u2019s something that I\u2019m trying to queue up.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An influential lawmaker is wondering if the U.S. Army should be on the hook to pay for its own transportation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":66466,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":16,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[44,8,160,14,16,36],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3361],"class_list":["post-32820","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-budget","category-congress","category-daily-news-roundup","category-land","category-naval","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"L4JV4V67CZD3DB5ROJCXNHK62A","arc_canonical_url":"\/naval\/2020\/02\/28\/should-the-us-army-pay-for-sealift\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Lawmaker asks Esper: Should the Army pay for sealift? - Defense News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"An influential lawmaker is wondering if the U.S. Army should be on the hook to pay for its own transportation.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/naval\/2020\/02\/28\/should-the-us-army-pay-for-sealift\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lawmaker asks Esper: Should the Army pay for sealift?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An influential lawmaker is wondering if the U.S. Army should be on the hook to pay for its own transportation.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/naval\/2020\/02\/28\/should-the-us-army-pay-for-sealift\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Defense News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-02-28T14:28:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-07T22:35:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"David B. 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Larter\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/naval\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/28\\\/should-the-us-army-pay-for-sealift\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/naval\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/28\\\/should-the-us-army-pay-for-sealift\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"headline\": \"Lawmaker asks Esper: Should the Army pay for 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