Washington pulse

March 2008

By Sandra I. Erwin & Grace V. Jean

What’s Next for MRAP?

The frenzy that led up to the procurement of thousands of mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles has subsided, and officials now are worrying about what to do with these unwieldy behemoths after U.S. troops leave Iraq. The Army and Marine Corps have ordered 15,000 MRAPs and so far have received 4,400. About 1,200 a month are being produced.

The Army thinks it can justify keeping about 10,000 of the armored trucks for mine-clearance, engineering and medevac duties, said Lt. Gen. Stephen Speakes, Army deputy chief of staff.

He noted that within the Army’s fleet of 140,000 trucks, 10,000 is just a drop in a bucket. The Marine Corps, which ordered 2,300 vehicles, probably will only need 400 to 600 in the future, said Brig. Gen. Larry Nicholson, deputy chief of the Marine Corps Combat Development Command. That estimate is based on expectations of what the Marines will be doing after Iraq and Afghanistan, he said. MRAPs are “not going on amphibious ships ... they’re not going to go across the beach.”

F-22 in Dogfight Against News Media

The Air Force’s prized F-22 Raptor fighter jet has yet to see action in combat against foreign enemies. So far, it seems, the jet’s fiercest foes have been the news media, according to the general who oversees the program. “The press” has been guilty of perpetuating myths and untruths about the F-22, Air Force Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Reimer said at an Aviation Week conference in Washington, D.C. He complained about news stories that depict the F-22 and the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter as interchangeable, when they are not. Reimer also was displeased by stories that, in his opinion, undervalued the savings that the Air Force would reap from a multiyear production contract for F-22s, which cost $150 million apiece. Reimer lamented that the program’s “baggage” continues to dominate news coverage.

Top Enlisted Sailor Calls for ‘Deck-Plate Diplomacy’

Top leaders of the Navy and the Coast Guard have touted the recent publication of a “maritime strategy” that is designed to finally get both services on the same page as far as future planning and investments.

There is one obstacle, however, that could make it tough for the two services to work together: most sailors don’t know much about the Coast Guard, said Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Joseph R. Campa. “Growing up as a sailor and not understanding what the Coast Guard is all about is a shame,” Campa said. He called for more interaction between sailors and coasties.

“The CNO [chief of naval operations] cannot come up here and talk about a maritime strategy if we don’t understand the services that we’re supposed to execute the strategy with,” Campa said at a conference in Arlington, Va. “A little bit of deck-plate diplomacy is needed to make that happen.”

Rising Costs Shipwreck Navy’s Expansion

The price tag for the Navy’s latest ship-construction plan is raising hackles on Capitol Hill. The service is trying to expand the fleet from 280 to 313 over the next 30 years, and its leaders have persistently promised that they would keep costs under control. But the Navy’s own fiscal 2009 shipbuilding blueprint forecasts cost growth of anywhere from $5 billion to $9 billion a year to meet construction goals. Analysts’ interpretation of the latest numbers is that the Navy is finally owning up to its past failures to accurately estimate the cost of ships. The really bad news for the Navy is that by acknowledging that warships will be far more expensive than previous calculations, the 313-ship goal is becoming even more remote.

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