American Shipbuilding Association

Become A Sea Power Ambassador

America faces a security crisis.  The fleet of the U.S. Navy has dropped from 594 ships in 1987 to 294 ships today.  This represents the smallest Navy since 1917, and coincides with one of the most active periods of naval deployments in our Nation’s history.  This country cannot afford to allow its sea power to continue to decline.  However, our sea services can only be rebuilt through a conscious and directed effort by our elected officials.  For this reason, the American Shipbuilding Association is pleased to announce the launching of the Sea Power Ambassador Program.  The mission of the Sea Power Ambassador Program is to educate the American public and elected officials on the need to rebuild the fleet of the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard to defend the security of every American. 

Rebuilding America's Navy and other sea services will only be achieved through an active, organized, grass roots education campaign led by Sea Power Ambassadors from all ranks of the shipbuilding industry, labor unions, Navy League, Surface Navy Association, Submarine League, and other stakeholders and concerned citizens.  The President, presidential candidates, U.S. Senators, and U.S. Representatives need to hear from the American people.   

Before September 11, 2001, this country had allowed our sea power to shrink to a fleet of just 315 ships.  Long before 9/11, Navy regional commanders were on record with the U.S. Congress and the Administration that the operational tempo had increased 300 percent over the operational tempo of the Cold War, and that they could not perform the growing number of missions without a larger fleet.  They reported that the smaller fleet was forcing them to run their ships longer and harder, that they were having to leave strategic areas of the world uncovered to respond to contingencies in other hot spots, and that training and shore side leave for Sailors and Marines were being cut short. 

Despite these affirmations, the Nation has been ordering just six new ships a year, on average for the past 12 years.  This is the lowest rate of naval ship production since 1932, and if continued, our Navy will shrink to a fleet of 180 ships.  Since 9/11, Admiral Vern Clark, the Chief of Naval Operations, has testified to Congress that the Nation needs a fleet of no fewer than 375 ships to meet present and emerging threats.  Yet, build rates have not yet increased.  The Department of Defense will need to invest in 12 new naval ships a year, and at this production rate, it will take 30 years to rebuild our fleet to the 375 ship level.  The chilling question is:  What threats to our national security, and what military challenges will America face during this 30 year period of increased security risk exposure?

It is important to remember that “sea power” refers not only to ships, but to the 559,000 Sailors and Marines, in addition to the 39,000 active duty members of the Coast Guard, all of whom defend the safety and way of life of each and every American.  We must therefore make certain these individuals have the necessary resources to perform their dangerous jobs. 

If the United States does not begin now to invest in our sea power fleet, America may never be able to overcome more than a decade of underinvestment.  Our surface ships and submarines take three to seven years to build, and that assumes the country keeps all the thousands of skilled workers on the job and ready to work.  And it's not just the actual shipyard workers either.  The yards depend on thousands of specialized suppliers all over the country, and if America does not keep building ships at a sufficient pace, many of these companies will cease to exist and thousands of highly skilled engineers and craftsmen will be laid off, and their talent lost.

If the country loses our shipyards, marine manufacturers, and our skilled workforce, it would take an enormous investment and years - if it were even possible - to ever reconstitute the industrial base necessary to build America's sea power fleet.  Once lost, it is essentially lost forever.  The United States will no longer be a super power, and our freedom and way of life will be at risk if the country ceases to be a sea power.

That is why the Sea Power Ambassador program is so vital. As Sea Power Ambassadors spread the word, the American people will become more aware of the danger facing the country and will let their elected officials know that sea power must be a national priority.  By investing in our Navy, we are investing in the economic livelihood and security of this country. 

If you support a Navy of more than 200 ships; if you support the Sailors and Marines and members of the Coast Guard who defend this nation; if you support the thousands of businesses that produce the ships and ship components and systems; and if you support the highly skilled men and women who build our sea power fleet, become a Sea Power Ambassador.  Please visit the American Shipbuilding Association website, www.americanshipbuilding.com, or the Sea Power Ambassador website, www.seapowerambassador.org to enroll as a Sea Power Ambassador.

DOD Questions Navy Budget

In its FY 2005 budget submission to the Secretary of Defense, the Navy plans for the purchase of nine ships in FY 2005, a two ship increase over FY 2004.  In the same proposal, the Navy outlined its shipbuilding procurement strategy for FY 05- FY 09.  Continuing with intentions to purchase the first CVN-21, in FY 07, the Navy plans for the procurement of six Virginia class submarines over five years; one each year between FY 05-08 and two in FY 09.  The budget proposal includes three DDG-51 destroyers in FY 05, and none thereafter.  The first of the next generation of destroyers, DD(X), is on track for a FY 05 purchase.  However, the Navy has not scheduled the purchase of the second ship of the class until FY 07.  Though two ships are planned for purchase annually in FY 07 and 08, with a purchase of three ships in FY 09, no destroyers are scheduled for FY 06 – this creates a one year gap between the construction of the first and second DD(X) ships.  If more DDG-51’s are not procured in 2006 and beyond to bridge the transition from one class of destroyer production to the DD(X) class, the surface combatant industrial base will be irreversibly devastated.    

One LPD-17 amphibious ship is planned for purchase each year between FY 05-09, in addition to the purchase of one LHA-R amphibious ship in FY 08.  The Navy has maintained its purchase schedule for the Littoral Combat Ship, with one ship annually in FY 05 and 06, zero ships in FY 07, three ships in FY 08, and four ships in FY 09.  For the National Defense Sealift Fund, the Navy plans to buy the first of the new Maritime Prepositioning Force ships, MPF(F) in FY08, with two more ships planned for purchase in FY09.  Additional procurements include two T-AOE ships in FY 09, and a total of five T-AKE cargo ships; two each year in FY 05 and FY 06, and one in FY 07. 

The Office of the Secretary of Defense, has raised concerns about the Navy’s long term proposal and whether the Navy is planning to purchase a sufficient number of vessels, particularly surface combatants.  Congress has already raised similar concerns about the Navy’s future fleet architecture, and in the FY 2004 Defense Authorization Act ordered two independent studies on the number, kinds, and size of ships and how available resources could be used to effectively counter future threats. 

No New Title XI Funds For FY 2004

Although the FY 2004 Defense Authorization legislation, signed into law on  November 24th, authorized $30 million for new loan guarantees each year for the next five years, neither the House nor Senate Appropriations Committees included monies for new Title XI loan guarantees in FY 2004. 

Congress did appropriate $25 million for Title XI in the Emergency Wartime Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2003 which was signed into law in April.  In March of this year, the Department of Transportation issued a report outlining recommended reforms pertaining to the administration of the Title XI Program.  Expenditure of the FY 2003 funds was made contingent upon certification from the Inspector General that the Maritime Administration had implemented the recommended reforms.  The FY 2004 Defense Authorization legislation has codified the Inspector General’s recommendations.    

Despite MARAD’s diligence in following the recommendations of the Inspector General, the House Transportation Appropriations Sub-Committee recommended appropriating no funds for Title XI in FY 2004.  The Sub-Committee instead directed MARAD to use the $25 million that is on hold until reforms have been certified by DOT.  This places the viability of the Title XI Program in jeopardy.  Without an appropriation of new funds for FY 2004, the $25 million that is currently on hold will be distributed quickly because of the lengthy backlog of pending applications.  It is therefore vital that funds for new loan guarantees be appropriated in FY 2005.    

Industry News

ASA Announces New Vice-Chairman

The Board of Directors of the American Shipbuilding Association elected John P. Casey, President of Electric Boat to be the Vice-Chairman of the Board of ASA.  Formerly vice-president of operations for the shipyard, Mr. Casey was named President in October of this year.  He replaced Mike Toner, who was appointed executive vice-president of General Dynamics Marine Systems group.  Mr. Casey has been with Electric Boat since 1979.

Well Said!

“Our Nation needs a superior Navy to support our military forces and vital interests overseas…but [rebuilding] isn’t cheap.  It comes at a time when there are many other pressures on our budget and when the American people have already had to make major sacrifices during the recession…It’s up to us, in our time, to choose and choose wisely between the hard but necessary task of preserving peace and freedom and the temptation to ignore our duty and blindly hope for the best while the enemies of freedom grow stronger day by day.”

President Ronald Reagan
Address to the Nation on the Need to Rebuild the Navy
March 23, 1983