Sailors and Marines serving on aircraft carriers can expect long deployments for the next few years because of ongoing crises in the Middle East and a shrinking number of carriers available for duty….
Seth Cropsey, a former deputy undersecretary of the Navy under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, said lawmakers and administration officials need to consider carefully the Navy’s size in relation to its mission.
“I think it’s important that we increase the current size,” said Mr. Cropsey, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. “The commitments that our Navy is being ordered to maintain … call for a Navy approximately 70 ships larger. (Washington Times, Posted 10 Jan 13)

