Navy's top admiral: Reducing carrier fleet would burn out sailors, ships

Extending deployments to compensate for a smaller carrier fleet would result in burnout of ships and sailors, the Navy’s top officer said Wednesday.

The Pentagon is considering retiring the USS George Washington if Congress doesn’t lift the budget caps that have been imposed on the Defense Department. Such a move would cut the carrier fleet from 11 to 10 ships.

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert said going down to 10 carriers would create readiness gaps that couldn’t be filled by new weaponry or longer deployment time lines.

Read more