Rep. Chris Deluzio: Prolonged USS Lincoln Deployment Could Create ‘Additional Burden’ Across the Fleet

RUSH EXCERPT:

DELUZIO: “Well, remember, an aircraft carrier is a small city. Thousands of personnel on board, and they’re sustaining combat operations, launching aircraft, receiving aircraft, rearming them, taking underway replenishment that’s receiving supplies at sea in contested environments, perhaps where there’s a threat from the Iranians and doing all that, again, without having the regular tempo of a port visit to take on supplies to manage larger repairs. That’s the stress that’s put on this crew. That’s the stress that’s put on these carriers. And it will be a thing that we will see in our fleet. I fear for a long time, because the extra time it will take to repair the Lincoln, to get what needs to be done so that it’s ready to go in its next deployment down the road will drag on, take longer, and put additional burden. I suspect, on other carriers, this is something that we will”