{"id":13970,"date":"2019-10-25T18:07:39","date_gmt":"2019-10-25T18:07:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/10\/25\/pentagon-official-wants-to-keep-shaking-up-the-navy-marines\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:03:01","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:03:01","slug":"pentagon-official-wants-to-keep-shaking-up-the-navy-marines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/10\/25\/pentagon-official-wants-to-keep-shaking-up-the-navy-marines\/","title":{"rendered":"Pentagon official wants to keep shaking up the Navy, Marines"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

America\u2019s foes are becoming far too capable and the Navy and Marine Corps must start plotting unconventionally to undermine them, Under Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly<\/a> said Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The National Defense Strategy, which calls for shaking up how the Navy deploys is \u201ca step in the right direction,” but Modly believes the sea services must make that operational in an era of great power competition keyed by the rise of China and Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a great tag line, I guess, but my perspective on this always has been that what happens over time is just the range of adversaries just get more diverse,” Modly said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking during the annual Military Reporters and Editors conference at Navy League headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, Modly\u2019s wide-ranging address touched on the motives and methods of both proven enemies and potential foes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He pointed to Al Qaeda\u2019s terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 and the immense destruction to America\u2019s economy by a small ring of non-state conspirators, and Russia\u2019s invasion of Crimea and ongoing efforts, including war, to undermine Ukraine\u2019s government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Chinese are doing the same thing. They\u2019ve got a strategic vision for what they see as their future and they\u2019re executing it in a very coordinated, nationally based way,\u201d Modly said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Addressing potential enemies like China, Russia, North Korea and Iran will require not only a military response but one that combines all elements of federal power, including diplomacy, cyberwarfare and economic tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have to think about ways to complicate their thinking, make them uncertain, make them doubt their capabilities,\u201d Modly said. \u201cThat\u2019s the full spectrum.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Fuel) Airman Kadeem Codrington washes the flight deck of the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln on Oct. 21 in the Arabian Sea. Congressional leaders continue to spar with Navy officials over the state of America’s carrier fleet. (Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jeremiah Bartelt\/Navy)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Modly\u2019s latest readiness snapshot for the Navy and Marine Corps came through an external audit by Ernst and Young<\/a>. While the sea service maintains a 99.9 percent accuracy of its audits on individual warships, it suffered from a lack of information on its shore-based facilities, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He disclosed that the audit team found a warehouse in Jacksonville, Florida, last year that contained more than $126 million in F-14 Tomcat, P-3 Orion and P-8 Poseidon parts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNot only did we not know that the parts existed, we didn\u2019t even know the warehouse existed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Navy also needs to press industry to speed business reform and cut costs, Modly said, nodding at the \u201csituation\u201d with the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford<\/a> as an example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first in its class, Ford has been beset by myriad systems problems and cost overruns that delayed the flattop from deploying until 2024, according to Capitol Hill testimony earlier this week by Vice Adm. Thomas Moore<\/a>, the head of Naval Sea Systems Command.<\/p>\n\n\n\t