The U.S. Navy Wants More Aircraft Carriers

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The aircraft carriers USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69), USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77), USS Enterprise (CVN 65), USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75), and USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) are in port at Naval Station Norfolk, Va., the world’s largest naval station. Chief Mass Communication Specialist Ryan J. Courtade, Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Ernest R. Scott, and Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Kevin J. Steinberg

San Diego Union Tribune: Navy struggles with shortage of aircraft carriers

Spun up as a training command in 2014 and armed with increasingly advanced software to simulate combat at sea, Carrier Strike Group 15 toils to teach warships how to fight and win wars in the Pacific.

But it can’t always overcome an ongoing global gap in American flattops.

In fact, the Navy might be forced to extend the planned tour for the carrier Nimitz and its escorts — the cruiser Princeton and destroyers Kidd, Shoup, Howard and Pinckney — to eight months, at least a month longer than expected.

That was the message from the group’s skipper, Rear Adm. Ross Myers, and his boss, Third Fleet commander Vice Adm. Nora Tyson, during a presentation in Point Loma before the San Diego Military Advisory Council on Thursday.

“The day the Nimitz deployed, the discussion started about extending the Nimitz,” said Tyson, referring to the carrier’s departure on June 5 from North Island for a deployment to the Indian Ocean.

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WNU Editor: Too many missions .... not enough ships .... this was all predicted a long time ago .... Who's Responsible For The Navy's Carrier Shortage? (Mark Cancian, War On The Rocks).