Speaking before the Hampton Roads Navy League, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle said the worst part of the extended war with Iran is not the combat or supply issues that impacted USS Abraham Lincoln.
“It's the uncertainty of not knowing how long they're going to be there,” Caudle said. “So I'm working really hard to try to actually set clear expectations and stick to our schedules, even if it's extended. They still want to know when their spouse is coming back, and so we owe our sailors that.”
Two carriers remain in the region, including the Norfolk-based USS George HW Bush, along with a host of other Navy ships. Caudle said ships still face fire from Iran, six months into the conflict. The Navy is working through supply issues as it maintains a long-term blockade of Iran. USS Lincoln was not able to make a port call after entering the Middle East in January. Caudle emphasized the need for sailors to have time off of the ship.
“Our sailors need to take a knee every now and then. You got to go somewhere and just even if it's a crappy port call. The worst port call I ever had is better than a day at sea,” he said.
Caudle met with reporters in Norfolk, prior to the event. WHRO was barred from attending. Navy Times reports that the CNO is looking at Kenya and the small island of Diego Garcia as possible locations for port calls, after the Navy’s main logistics hub in Bahrain has come under fire since the start of the war.
The San Diego-based USS Theodore Roosevelt is preparing to deploy to the region. The Navy is bracing for an extended deployment, as the U.S. prepares for the possibility of an extended standoff in its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
Despite the high operational tempo, Caudle said he has continued to prioritize quality of life issues under his Sailors First initiative after a year in his role leading the Navy. The former head of Norfolk-based Fleet Forces said he has moved 6,000 sailors off of ships into housing on shore, including in Hampton Roads. The Navy has spent $395 million on projects to renovate housing for junior sailors and upgrade dining facilities and gyms for sailors, he said.
“Spend 12 hours standing watch, maintaining a ship, turning aircraft, or operating a nuclear power plant, and then tell me that sleep, food, housing and fitness aren't strategic. Readiness begins with the sailor, but sailors first goes well beyond quality of life,” he said.
