Jan 5, 2016
Bryan Clark, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, a Washington think tank, said these are signs the status quo is unsustainable. In a November report, Clark outlined alternatives: build more ships, though this would require money Congress may not give the Navy or deploy less, though the Pentagon has been reluctant to accept less of an overseas presence. The other choices: keep more ships at overseas bases where they would be closer to where they operate or mix up how ships deploy, for example by sending fewer escorts with an aircraft carrier which would free some ships to operate separately.
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