The Navy has a choice: Get better or become less relevant

The useful part

We cannot keep shrinking the number of ships while expanding the number of missions and pretend the math will somehow work. Families that have carried an enormous burden will want some normalcy back. What happens next will tell us a lot about the future of the United States Navy.

How it works

• We can spend the next few years talking about how hard the Iran fight was, how tired the force is, and how much everything costs.
• We can lower expectations, reduce deployments, accept fewer ships at sea, and convince ourselves that this is simply the new reality.
• This is the choice facing this generation of Navy leaders, Pentagon officials, members of Congress, and the defense industrial base.
• Listen to sailors and learn the right lesson The extended deployment of the USS Abraham Lincoln has become the most visible example of the strain on the force.
• Sailors and families have expressed frustration about deployment length, uncertainty, limited port calls, and conditions aboard the ship.

What to take from it

Ships have stayed at sea longer than planned. Maintenance has been pushed to the right because the mission came first.

Details worth keeping

The Navy has been through a lot over the past several months. Sailors have missed more time with their families. Weapons have been fired in numbers we have not seen in decades.