Nuclear Carrier Capabilities Mayport

Virginian Pilot editors claim to know more than Flag ranking strategists

Weighing-in on developing nuclear carrier facilities, the Virginian-Pilot editorial staff wants to cross swords with experienced flag-ranking strategists. It’s too bad that the journalists can only formulate their strategies based upon “eggs” and “baskets” as they relate to security.

Follow up:

What Admiral Harvey failed to enlighten the reporter on, and rightfully so, were the advantages and strategic/tactical flexibility dispersion offers. In the highly technical world of intelligence gathering that we encounter today, the ability to mask and misdirect ship movements plays a significant roll. The brief periods of masked enemy satellite gathering intelligence can only be exploited if fleet commanders are afforded the means to provide false or no tactical intelligence to a foe.

That is just one of the considerations the playbook of dispersion provides. To go beyond that would boggle the mind of the Pilot’s literary contributors.

The Pilot’s editors are insufficiently equipped to challenge neither the myriad of advantages for force dispersion provides nor the full breath of the military definition of security and all that it entails.

The expedient reason local political hacks challenge the move is cost. “We’re broke!” and “We don’t have the money!” statements are completely misleading. The reallocation of funds and the cuts in the President’s requested defense package, like the F-22 Raptor, Presidential helicopter EH101/VH71, along with delays in the F-35 Lightening II and Littoral Combat Ship (LCS)development provide the Pentagon latitude in reallocating source funding. Moreover, the cost of providing the necessary costing to ready Mayport, Florida is small potatoes in the overall defense budget recommendations.