{"id":22796,"date":"2016-04-19T09:00:41","date_gmt":"2016-04-19T09:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2016\/04\/19\/lay-up-plan-jeopardizes-some-of-the-navy-s-best-ships-forbes\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:20:55","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:20:55","slug":"lay-up-plan-jeopardizes-some-of-the-navy-s-best-ships-forbes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/opinion\/2016\/04\/19\/lay-up-plan-jeopardizes-some-of-the-navy-s-best-ships-forbes\/","title":{"rendered":"Lay-up plan jeopardizes some of the Navy’s best ships: Forbes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Over the past five years, the United States military has been under tremendous fiscal pressure.\u00a0Since 2011, when the Budget Control Act capped defense spending and created the threat of sequestration, the armed forces have seen their budgets cut significantly.\u00a0While the world has grown more dangerous, each service has been driven to sacrifice elements of force structure on the altar of austerity. For the U.S. Navy, the sacrificial victims have been cruisers and amphibious ships.\u00a0Thus far, Congress has been able to save these vital vessels from the chopping block, but action by Congress will be needed once again in 2016 to keep them in service and prevent the further degradation of our Navy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As even proponents of cutting cruisers and amphibious ships will concede, both types of ships are critical components of the Navy’s fleet.\u00a0Cruisers are the closest things to battleships still in U.S. service, large surface combatants packing long-range radars and an arsenal of guided missiles.\u00a0While capable of carrying out a wide variety of missions, cruisers’ primary mission is to defend our carrier strike groups and allies like Israel and Japan from air and missile attacks. Amphibious ships, on the other hand, serve as transports and floating bases for U.S. Marines so that they can remain in-position and ready to intervene in times of crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the important roles these ships play, however, the administration plans to take almost a dozen of them out of service.\u00a0Under what the Navy is euphemistically calling a “phased modernization” plan, half the Navy’s cruisers and an amphibious ship would be tied up to piers and put into an inactive status.\u00a0Combat systems and electronics would be removed from the ships and kept in warehouses ashore.\u00a0Hatches would be sealed, tanks would be drained, and giant dehumidifiers placed throughout the ship to control rust.\u00a0 The ships’ personnel would be spread throughout the rest of the fleet, with only a skeleton crew kept aboard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ships would be kept in this sad state for up to 12 years before eventually being repaired, modernized, and returned to the fleet in the 2020s. Although unmanned and unequipped, these mothballed ships would still be counted by the administration toward the size of the fleet, despite the fact that it would take 12 to 24 months to get them ready for deployment.\u00a0According to the Navy, taking these ships out of service now would allow them to serve into the 2040s, but the primary motivation for inactivating the ships appears to avoiding the cost of manning and operating these ships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is not the first time the administration has proposed taking these ships out of service.\u00a0In both 2012 and 2013, the administration proposed to permanently decommission 9 cruisers and amphibs with over a decade of service life left in each of them.\u00a0Each time, however, Congress overrode the administration’s proposal, secured additional funding for the ships, and kept them in service.\u00a0Shifting gears, the administration first proposed a “phased modernization” plan in 2014, but Congress mandated that the Navy instead follow a “2-4-6” plan, under which only two\u00a0ships can be taken out of service each year, no ship can be out of service for longer than four\u00a0years, and no more than six\u00a0total ships may be out of service at any one time.\u00a0This compromise, which remains the law of the land, allows the Navy to achieve some savings while mitigating the shortfall in ships and reducing the risk that they will never actually be brought back out of mothballs.\u00a0Two years later, the administration is now proposing to revert to “phased modernization” and lay up all 11 cruisers and one amphibious ship at the same time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

This convoluted history reveals several things.\u00a0The administration’s vacillation on whether to decommission or inactivate the ships shows that the various proposals have been driven by budget considerations, not strategy or operational analysis.\u00a0It also shows that this administration cannot be trusted to adhere to any plan, raising the risk that once these ships are inactivated, plans will change and they will never brought back into service.\u00a0Fortunately, the events of the last few years also demonstrate that Congress is both willing and able to pay for elements of Navy force structure that this administration would rather do away with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Rep. J. Randy Forbes, R-Va., holds up a document as he questions Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James and Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. Mark Welsh? about an incident involving a cadet at the Air Force Academy who was forced to take a Bible quote down from a whiteboard in his quarters, during a budget hearing at the House Armed Services Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, March 14, 2014. Forbes compared putting the Bible quote up to lawmakers hanging an “In God We Trust” sign in their offices. (AP Photo\/J. Scott Applewhite)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Rep. J. Randy Forbes, R-Va, says the administration’s phased modernization plan for cruisers is “ill-advised.”<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photo Credit: J. Scott Applewhite\/AP<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The “phased modernization” plan remains an ill-advised one that Congress should continue to oppose.\u00a0Both cruisers and amphibious ships are badly needed by our combatant commanders at present, and demand for these assets will only grow as air and missile threats proliferate and the Marines return to the sea.\u00a0Rather than cutting force structure, Congress should be holding the line and keeping our existing ships in service, so that in cooperation with the next administration we can begin the important work of rebuilding our Navy and growing our fleet to the size we need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rep. J. Randy Forbes, R-Va., chairs the House Armed Services Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Virginia congressman says Congress must block the administration’s proposal to indefinitely sideline a dozen warships.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":48572,"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":14,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1824],"class_list":["post-22796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"VTXACNEOG5C6TOUJ7X32ICW4NE","arc_canonical_url":"\/opinion\/2016\/04\/19\/lay-up-plan-jeopardizes-some-of-the-navy-s-best-ships-forbes\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\nLay-up plan jeopardizes some of the Navy's best ships: Forbes - Navy Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A Virginia congressman says Congress must block the administration's proposal to indefinitely sideline a dozen warships.\" \/>\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=\"Lay-up plan jeopardizes some of the Navy's best ships: Forbes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A Virginia congressman says Congress must block the administration's proposal to indefinitely sideline a dozen warships.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/opinion\/2016\/04\/19\/lay-up-plan-jeopardizes-some-of-the-navy-s-best-ships-forbes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Navy Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-04-19T09:00:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T19:20:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Staff\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Staff\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 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\\\/navytimes\\\/opinion\\\/2016\\\/04\\\/19\\\/lay-up-plan-jeopardizes-some-of-the-navy-s-best-ships-forbes\\\/#article\",\n\t \"isPartOf\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/opinion\\\/2016\\\/04\\\/19\\\/lay-up-plan-jeopardizes-some-of-the-navy-s-best-ships-forbes\\\/\"\n\t },\n\t \"author\": {\n\t \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t },\n\t \"headline\": \"Lay-up plan jeopardizes some of the Navy’s best ships: Forbes\",\n\t \"datePublished\": \"2016-04-19T09:00:41+00:00\",\n\t \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T19:20:55+00:00\",\n\t \"mainEntityOfPage\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/opinion\\\/2016\\\/04\\\/19\\\/lay-up-plan-jeopardizes-some-of-the-navy-s-best-ships-forbes\\\/\"\n\t },\n\t \"wordCount\": 954,\n\t \"commentCount\": 0,\n\t \"publisher\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t },\n\t \"image\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/opinion\\\/2016\\\/04\\\/19\\\/lay-up-plan-jeopardizes-some-of-the-navy-s-best-ships-forbes\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t },\n\t \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/635965922819610868-chosinjpg.jpg\",\n\t \"articleSection\": [\n\t \"Opinion\"\n\t ],\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"potentialAction\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"CommentAction\",\n\t \"name\": \"Comment\",\n\t \"target\": [\n\t \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/opinion\\\/2016\\\/04\\\/19\\\/lay-up-plan-jeopardizes-some-of-the-navy-s-best-ships-forbes\\\/#respond\"\n\t ]\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/opinion\\\/2016\\\/04\\\/19\\\/lay-up-plan-jeopardizes-some-of-the-navy-s-best-ships-forbes\\\/\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/opinion\\\/2016\\\/04\\\/19\\\/lay-up-plan-jeopardizes-some-of-the-navy-s-best-ships-forbes\\\/\",\n\t \"name\": \"Lay-up plan jeopardizes some of the Navy's best ships: Forbes - Navy Times\",\n\t \"isPartOf\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#website\"\n\t },\n\t \"primaryImageOfPage\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/opinion\\\/2016\\\/04\\\/19\\\/lay-up-plan-jeopardizes-some-of-the-navy-s-best-ships-forbes\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t },\n\t \"image\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/opinion\\\/2016\\\/04\\\/19\\\/lay-up-plan-jeopardizes-some-of-the-navy-s-best-ships-forbes\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t },\n\t \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/635965922819610868-chosinjpg.jpg\",\n\t \"datePublished\": \"2016-04-19T09:00:41+00:00\",\n\t \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T19:20:55+00:00\",\n\t \"description\": \"A Virginia congressman says Congress must block the administration's proposal to indefinitely sideline a dozen warships.\",\n\t \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/opinion\\\/2016\\\/04\\\/19\\\/lay-up-plan-jeopardizes-some-of-the-navy-s-best-ships-forbes\\\/#breadcrumb\"\n\t },\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"potentialAction\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t \"target\": [\n\t \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/opinion\\\/2016\\\/04\\\/19\\\/lay-up-plan-jeopardizes-some-of-the-navy-s-best-ships-forbes\\\/\"\n\t ]\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/opinion\\\/2016\\\/04\\\/19\\\/lay-up-plan-jeopardizes-some-of-the-navy-s-best-ships-forbes\\\/#primaryimage\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/635965922819610868-chosinjpg.jpg\",\n\t \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/635965922819610868-chosinjpg.jpg\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/opinion\\\/2016\\\/04\\\/19\\\/lay-up-plan-jeopardizes-some-of-the-navy-s-best-ships-forbes\\\/#breadcrumb\",\n\t \"itemListElement\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t \"position\": 1,\n\t \"name\": \"Home\",\n\t \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/\",\n\t \"ad_zone\": \"home\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t \"position\": 2,\n\t \"name\": \"Opinion\",\n\t \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/opinion\\\/\",\n\t \"ad_zone\": \"opinion\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t \"position\": 3,\n\t \"name\": \"Lay-up plan jeopardizes some of the Navy’s best ships: Forbes\"\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#website\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/\",\n\t \"name\": \"Navy Times\",\n\t \"description\": \"Independent News For Sailors | Navy Times\",\n\t \"publisher\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t },\n\t \"potentialAction\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t \"target\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t },\n\t \"query-input\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t }\n\t }\n\t ],\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#organization\",\n\t \"name\": \"Navy Times\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/\",\n\t \"logo\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/navy-logo-white.png\",\n\t \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/navy-logo-white.png\",\n\t \"caption\": \"Navy Times\"\n\t },\n\t \"image\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"\n\t }\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\",\n\t \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t \"image\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t \"caption\": \"migration\"\n\t },\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/author\\\/migration\\\/\"\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Lay-up plan jeopardizes some of the Navy's best ships: Forbes - Navy Times","description":"A Virginia congressman says Congress must block the administration's proposal to indefinitely sideline a dozen warships.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Lay-up plan jeopardizes some of the Navy's best ships: Forbes","og_description":"A Virginia congressman says Congress must block the administration's proposal to indefinitely sideline a dozen warships.","og_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/opinion\/2016\/04\/19\/lay-up-plan-jeopardizes-some-of-the-navy-s-best-ships-forbes\/","og_site_name":"Navy Times","article_published_time":"2016-04-19T09:00:41+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-08T19:20:55+00:00","author":"Staff","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Staff","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/opinion\/2016\/04\/19\/lay-up-plan-jeopardizes-some-of-the-navy-s-best-ships-forbes\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/opinion\/2016\/04\/19\/lay-up-plan-jeopardizes-some-of-the-navy-s-best-ships-forbes\/"},"author":{"name":"migration","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1"},"headline":"Lay-up plan jeopardizes some of the Navy’s best ships: Forbes","datePublished":"2016-04-19T09:00:41+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T19:20:55+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/opinion\/2016\/04\/19\/lay-up-plan-jeopardizes-some-of-the-navy-s-best-ships-forbes\/"},"wordCount":954,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/opinion\/2016\/04\/19\/lay-up-plan-jeopardizes-some-of-the-navy-s-best-ships-forbes\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635965922819610868-chosinjpg.jpg","articleSection":["Opinion"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/opinion\/2016\/04\/19\/lay-up-plan-jeopardizes-some-of-the-navy-s-best-ships-forbes\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/opinion\/2016\/04\/19\/lay-up-plan-jeopardizes-some-of-the-navy-s-best-ships-forbes\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/opinion\/2016\/04\/19\/lay-up-plan-jeopardizes-some-of-the-navy-s-best-ships-forbes\/","name":"Lay-up plan jeopardizes some of the Navy's best ships: Forbes - Navy Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/opinion\/2016\/04\/19\/lay-up-plan-jeopardizes-some-of-the-navy-s-best-ships-forbes\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/opinion\/2016\/04\/19\/lay-up-plan-jeopardizes-some-of-the-navy-s-best-ships-forbes\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635965922819610868-chosinjpg.jpg","datePublished":"2016-04-19T09:00:41+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T19:20:55+00:00","description":"A Virginia congressman says Congress must block the administration's proposal to indefinitely sideline a dozen warships.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/opinion\/2016\/04\/19\/lay-up-plan-jeopardizes-some-of-the-navy-s-best-ships-forbes\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/opinion\/2016\/04\/19\/lay-up-plan-jeopardizes-some-of-the-navy-s-best-ships-forbes\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/opinion\/2016\/04\/19\/lay-up-plan-jeopardizes-some-of-the-navy-s-best-ships-forbes\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635965922819610868-chosinjpg.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635965922819610868-chosinjpg.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/opinion\/2016\/04\/19\/lay-up-plan-jeopardizes-some-of-the-navy-s-best-ships-forbes\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/","ad_zone":"home"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Opinion","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/opinion\/","ad_zone":"opinion"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Lay-up plan jeopardizes some of the Navy’s best ships: Forbes"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#website","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/","name":"Navy Times","description":"Independent News For Sailors | Navy Times","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#organization","name":"Navy Times","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/navy-logo-white.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/navy-logo-white.png","caption":"Navy Times"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1","name":"migration","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"migration"},"url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/author\/migration\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Navy Times","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes","push-errors":false,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635965922819610868-chosinjpg.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22796"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22796\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22807,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22796\/revisions\/22807"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22796"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=22796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}