{"id":52847,"date":"2017-09-02T14:05:17","date_gmt":"2017-09-02T14:05:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2017\/09\/02\/lawmakers-to-grill-navy-officials-over-fatal-mishaps\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:50:50","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:50:50","slug":"lawmakers-to-grill-navy-officials-over-fatal-mishaps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2017\/09\/02\/lawmakers-to-grill-navy-officials-over-fatal-mishaps\/","title":{"rendered":"Lawmakers to grill Navy officials over fatal mishaps"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>Analyst: Readiness budget shortfalls an unlikely culprit<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 U.S. lawmakers plan to closely question the Navy over a string of fatal mishaps at sea, when officials appear on Capitol Hill next week, said Rep. Rob Wittman, who chairs the House Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A joint hearing of the House Readiness and Seapower Subcommittees on Sept. 7 will probe \u201cunderlying problems\u201d with readiness associated with the collisions of the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers Fitzgerald and John S. McCain, two months apart over the summer. The incidents left dead 10 of the McCain\u2019s sailors and seven of the Fitzgerald\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Even before the McCain and Fitzgerald collisions, there were two prior incidents involving the Japan-based U.S. 7th Fleet including a grounding and oil spill in Tokyo Bay and a collision with a Korean fishing boat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Set to testify at the hearing are the U.S. Navy\u2019s vice chief of naval operations, Adm. Bill Moran; its director of surface warfare, Rear Adm. Ronald Boxall, and the Government Accountability Office\u2019s director of defense force structure and readiness issues, John Pendleton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wittman, R-Va., recently returned from a trip to Japan where he visited the stricken destroyer Fitzgerald and spoke with crew members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The trip had a profound effect on the lawmaker, who said Congress needs to makes sure the Navy gets to the bottom of what led to the string of increasingly serious incidents. \u201cIt\u2019s just unbelievable the amount of damage to [Fitzgerald] and see what sailors went through on that ship,\u201d Wittman said. \u201cI think it causes all of us to ask some fundamental questions about what is happening within the Navy that allowed these incidents to occur.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Congress will be seeking what measures, beyond a brief operational standdown, the Navy is taking to address shortcomings; what specifically the Navy \u201cat every level\u201d is doing to diagnose the problems that led to the accidents; and what is the initial assessment of factors that led to the accidents and what Congress can do to help, Wittman said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThese are the most advanced warships in the world,\u201d he said. \u201cThey can do some miraculous things with Aegis and missile defense. But one of the most basic elements of our Navy is to be able to safely navigate. And that means not running into things or having things run into you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow aligncenter\" data-effect=\"slide\"><div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_container swiper\"><ul class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_swiper-wrapper swiper-wrapper\"><li class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1435\" height=\"839\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-15967\" data-id=\"15967\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Navy-operational-training-PB-funding-history.png.png\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Navy-operational-training-PB-funding-history.png.png 1435w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Navy-operational-training-PB-funding-history.png.png?resize=300,175 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Navy-operational-training-PB-funding-history.png.png?resize=768,449 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Navy-operational-training-PB-funding-history.png.png?resize=1024,599 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1435px) 100vw, 1435px\" \/><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1102\" height=\"1046\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-15970\" data-id=\"15970\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Navy-Maintenance-and-Depot-Line-Items.png.png\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Navy-Maintenance-and-Depot-Line-Items.png.png 1102w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Navy-Maintenance-and-Depot-Line-Items.png.png?resize=300,285 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Navy-Maintenance-and-Depot-Line-Items.png.png?resize=768,729 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Navy-Maintenance-and-Depot-Line-Items.png.png?resize=1024,972 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1102px) 100vw, 1102px\" \/><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1526\" height=\"869\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-15975\" data-id=\"15975\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Navy-maintenance-depot-PB-funding-history.png.png\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Navy-maintenance-depot-PB-funding-history.png.png 1526w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Navy-maintenance-depot-PB-funding-history.png.png?resize=300,171 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Navy-maintenance-depot-PB-funding-history.png.png?resize=768,437 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Navy-maintenance-depot-PB-funding-history.png.png?resize=1024,583 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1526px) 100vw, 1526px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption\">Source: CSBA<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><a class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-prev swiper-button-prev swiper-button-white\" role=\"button\"><\/a><a class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-next swiper-button-next swiper-button-white\" role=\"button\"><\/a><a aria-label=\"Pause Slideshow\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-pause\" role=\"button\"><\/a><div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_pagination swiper-pagination swiper-pagination-white\"><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>A readiness crisis?<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, has often warned about a readiness crisis in the military.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe ask a lot of our men and women in the Navy. The time they spend at sea is increasing, while their ships age and their funding gets cut. These are just the conditions that can lead to an increase in the kinds of accidents we are witnessing,\u201d he said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Navy readiness-related funding&nbsp;has been trending higher virtually every year, according to Katherine Blakeley, a defense budget expert with the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. She studied the issue as part of forthcoming analysis of the president\u2019s 2018 request for Defense Department operations and maintenance funds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf you look at those funding levels between 2009 and 2017, Congress has actually appropriated a smooth, upward line,\u201d she said. \u201cIn every year except for two, it\u2019s pretty much on the nose for what the Navy requested.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While there was a smooth, upward trend for Navy maintenance and depot appropriations from $10.4 billion in 2011 to $13 billion in 2017, Navy budget lines that most directly contribute to near-term operational training were flat at about $2.5 billion annually, except for a dip in 2015 to $2.4 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cFrom a training perspective it doesn\u2019t look like there is a real pile of missing money for Navy sailors, Navy pilots and flight-support crew,\u201d Blakeley said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Budget caps do not appear to be the cause either, according to Blakeley. Funding levels have been consistently higher than future Pentagon budget plans offered by former Defense Secretary Bob Gates before Congress passed budget caps that some argue artificially depressed defense budgets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThat says to me it needs more inquiry, and it\u2019s not a question of there being no money,\u201d she said. \u201cMaybe the Navy is wrong in their estimation of how much money is needed, but Congress has consistently been appropriating more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A key question for lawmakers to ask is what percentage of the appropriated funding is being spent, Blakeley said. The Air Force has had problems with using training dollars because there are not enough ready aircraft, and it\u2019s unclear whether the Navy faces a similar issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"4800\" height=\"3200\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/fitzgerald-arriving-in-yokosuka.JPG.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-41136\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/fitzgerald-arriving-in-yokosuka.JPG.jpg 4800w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/fitzgerald-arriving-in-yokosuka.JPG.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/fitzgerald-arriving-in-yokosuka.JPG.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/fitzgerald-arriving-in-yokosuka.JPG.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/fitzgerald-arriving-in-yokosuka.JPG.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/fitzgerald-arriving-in-yokosuka.JPG.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 4800px) 100vw, 4800px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">170617-N-XN177-155 \rYOKOSUKA, Japan (June 17, 2017)  The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62) returns to Fleet Activities (FLEACT) Yokosuka following a collision with a merchant vessel while operating southwest of Yokosuka, Japan. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Peter Burghart\/Released)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>Questions for Navy officials<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Another question is whether the Navy has been requesting as much for operations and maintenance as it has needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tom Callender, a former Navy director of capabilities, said that often cuts in the Navy budget request mandated by the Office of the Secretary of Defense were taken out of the service\u2019s operation and maintenance account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBy cutting the operations money, I\u2019m cutting the flying hours, and we\u2019re seeing issues with aircraft in the Marine Corps,\u201d said Callender, now with the Heritage Foundation. \u201cWhat I used to be able to do as a junior officer is take a week to get my guys qualified and evaluate my own proficiency, and that\u2019s gone by the wayside.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Callender tied what he sees as a lost focus on basic seamanship and navigation to an inadequately sized Navy and its maintenance shortfalls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe Navy\u2019s not big enough and we don\u2019t have enough sailors manning our fleets,\u201d Callender said. \u201cWhen they\u2019re underway, they\u2019re devoted to operations at hand and what maintenance they can get done. And what\u2019s been left by the wayside is the time devoted to training in port and underway.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Callender also pointed to cultural issues, including changes in the career path for officers in recent years and an over-reliance on technology for navigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThere needs to be a culture change in the surface community, a come-to-Jesus looking at refocusing on basics, and it is going to take money,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Todd Harrison, the director of defense budget analysis at Center for Strategic and International Studies said it would be wrong to view the issue as solely about shortfalls, given the defense budget today is as high as it was at the peak of the Reagan buildup and given the fleet is much smaller than it was in the 1980s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Still, in line with Blakeley\u2019s assessment, Harrison said the tough question for Navy leaders is whether they knew they had readiness problems they did not address in budget requests to Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe question we should be asking is: If the Navy knew it had a readiness problem and that the crews were not adequately prepared for basic navigation and safe operations, then why were they allowed to go to sea?\u201d he said. \u201cIf the Navy knew they weren\u2019t ready, they should have never left port.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Congress will focus on fleet readiness in a Sept. 7 hearing on the Navy&#8217;s recent fatal collisions, but it&#8217;s unclear just how much budget shortfalls were a factor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":52869,"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":8,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"2":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"7":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","your-navy","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"}}},"categories":[8,160,16,36],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3446,3361],"class_list":["post-52847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-congress","category-daily-news-roundup","category-naval","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"NUR4KIQNLVHEPOAWMMVVGSJJ5E","arc_canonical_url":"\/congress\/2017\/09\/02\/lawmakers-to-grill-navy-officials-over-fatal-mishaps\/","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>Lawmakers to grill Navy officials over fatal mishaps - Defense News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Congress will focus on fleet readiness in a Sept. 7 hearing on the Navy&#039;s recent fatal collisions, but it&#039;s unclear just how much budget shortfalls were a factor.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lawmakers to grill Navy officials over fatal mishaps\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Congress will focus on fleet readiness in a Sept. 7 hearing on the Navy&#039;s recent fatal collisions, but it&#039;s unclear just how much budget shortfalls were a factor.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2017\/09\/02\/lawmakers-to-grill-navy-officials-over-fatal-mishaps\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Defense News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-09-02T14:05:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-07T23:50:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Joe Gould, David B. 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