We’re failing at some very basic, vital stuff.

THE OCEANS AREN’T GETTING ANY SMALLER: Navy admiral: A 355-ship Navy may not be attainable.

“Will we get to 355 ships?” Burke asked at the Military Reports and Editors conference in Arlington, Va. “I think with today’s fiscal situation, where the Navy’s top line is right now, we can keep around 305 to 310 ships whole, properly manned, properly maintained, properly equipped, and properly ready.”

He added that although the 355-ship target is appropriate, “it’s more important that we have the maximum capability to address every challenge that we might face.”

Currently, about 30 percent of the Navy’s destroyer fleet can leave port on schedule after repairs, and six of 11 aircraft carriers are under repair; one is the USS Harry S. Truman, whose electrical problems forced a cancellation of its deployment to the Middle East in September

The country has tens of millions more people than we did in the ’80s, we’re vastly richer, we’re more reliant on trade than ever, and yet we can only put to sea a fleet barely more than half the size it was under Reagan.

Readiness sucks, too: “Currently, about 30 percent of the Navy’s destroyer fleet can leave port on schedule after repairs, and six of 11 aircraft carriers are under repair; one is the USS Harry S. Truman, whose electrical problems forced a cancellation of its deployment to the Middle East in September.”

h/t SG