"The strategic stability of the entire nation in the Pacific is being sacrificed to avoid upsetting the system of political and union corruption, patronage, cronyism, and incompetence that characterizes the state, local, and federal civilian controlled projects in that one-party state."
Yup, that pretty much jibes with my personal observations when I was stationed at Pearl. That was in 1970. Things have only gotten worse.
Part and parcel to selling off the SPR at moments before elections. When the inevitable bills come due in lives and treasure, they will be able to tell bigger lies with a straight face...
How have we, the west, gotten so utterly bent logistically? It’s not just a one off thing. It’s like our leadership is absolutely determined to do everything wrong.
Speaking of fuel supplies, from an Australian perspective, we’re critically vulnerable to blockade. We export oil and gas, but we don’t have ANY refinery capacity! We import diesel! And when oil briefly dropped to zero a few years back, our government announced that we would take advantage to create a “Strategic Fuel Reserve”... that was located in the United States.
If a major war breaks out, with a competent adversary striking fuel supplies and transport first? Our entire economy shuts down in less than three months, unless the fuel can get escorted here.
How the hell are we supposed to support allied forces if we can’t even supply ourselves!?
Seriously, is anybody here actually surprised? Makes ya' wonder if Del Toro fought or rolled over. After all, bringing fuel to Hawaii contributes to climate change. Fighting climate change is his #1 priority.
Hopefully he sees this and has the courage of his convictions to respond to us little people with his version of the facts.
People lie for many reasons. My experience is that politicians tend to lie more than the average person because of the personal gain they believe will be theirs if they are able to get away with the lie. All of their lies violate their oath of office to support and defend the Constitution. In this particular case, the very large potential to lose the next Pacific war due to a lack of chandlery and fueling assets in Hawaii and points west approaches a level of misfeasance/malfeasance of office that is close to treason. I once heard it said that first class executives hire other first class personnel to work for them, but that second class executives hire third rate personnel.
Right now, I don't care which past administration ran the train off the track. The much larger problem is that SecNav is actively ignoring a problem that may result in the deaths of thousands of service personnel as well as encourage the CCP to encroach even further east in the Pacific and into South America and Central America. Apparently the Secretary has yet to figure out that whenever the U.S. retreats, the PRC takes a step forward. Failing to maintain and expand our fueling capabilities in the Pacific is a big step backwards.
Well the "empty calories" Republican leadership in DC will most certainly jawbone the darn thing to death, raising up their indignation and then what follows will be another bowl full of nothing.
It's almost like China and Russia collaborated with Biden officials to implement policies for our Military (to THEIR advantage). Surrender to the Taliban. Don't leave any intel foothold in the region. Leave $80B of perfectly good equipment to be used against us. Eliminate the oil storage in Hawaii as if there are no consequences...What's next? Design a ship that doesn't work and has to be decommissioned within 5 years? Oh...wait...
When the U.S. Navy ran naval shipyards we had a wealth of technical experts. It was a side effect of the process of designing and building warships “in house.” We created military and civilian personal who knew how to design and build complicated industrial systems. Folks moved out of the shipyards into the Navy at large, bringing with them the skills and knowledge accumulated over time.
As the Commander noted, the current status of the tanks is untenable. They are leaking and poisoning people. If something is not done, they will poison everyone.
If the Navy Chief in 1920 were presented with a technical problem, he would have leaned on his technical experts. He would have had experts, and they would have been Navy men. Now, we don’t have technical experts, we have consultants. Instead of SeaBees rolling up their sleeves, and hitting the drawing boards with an attitude of “can do,” we have the beltway consulting class tell us “can’t do,” or worse, “a new, innovative and transformational way of storing fuel.”
We need a navy that can do navy things without hiring outside help.
Is War with the United States Inevitable?…it appears that the policy of the United States toward Japan is based upon the idea of preserving the status quo and aims, in order to dominate the world and defend democracy, to prevent our empire from rising and developing in Eastern Asia. Under these circumstances, it must be pointed out the policies of Japan and the United States are mutually
inconsistent and that it is historically inevitable the conflict between the two countries, which is sometimes tense and moderate, should ultimately lead to war.
Change "Japan" to "China" and the same conclusion exists day. We are so screwed.
Closing of the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility combined with the small amount of AO/AOEs in the Battle Fleet, MSP and NDRF, translates to an outright logistical surrender of the Navy's ability to sustain a fight west of wake. The Navy has done with the stroke of a pen, what the Empire of Japan failed to do in four years of bloody combat.
I was using basic product tankers to do the math the first time I looked at this and it was a steep number to replace the capacity. However, if you look at the capacity of a VLCC like the Alaska Class tankers that ESB/ESD are based on, it's only a smidge over 4.5 ships. Just get NASSCO moving off ESBs and back to Alaska class tankers.
How would the decisions being made by our top officials (top officials!) be any different if they were being made by Chairman Xi?
The Biden administration has an abundance of idiots, environmental wackos, and America haters in key jobs. But, given the infiltration of the Chinese into so many areas in our industry, academia and government agencies, are all these bad decisions merely the incompetence and arrogance of Biden buddies, or are some the result of Chinese "investments" and influence?
It is getting really hard to tell foreign enemies from domestic enemies.
"As I’ve stated before. If you tell a lie; that is on you. If you ask me to join you in your lie; that is on you. If I agree to join you on that lie; that is on me."
That, boys and girls, is why I refuse to use anyone's "preferred" pronouns.
"The strategic stability of the entire nation in the Pacific is being sacrificed to avoid upsetting the system of political and union corruption, patronage, cronyism, and incompetence that characterizes the state, local, and federal civilian controlled projects in that one-party state."
Yup, that pretty much jibes with my personal observations when I was stationed at Pearl. That was in 1970. Things have only gotten worse.
Part and parcel to selling off the SPR at moments before elections. When the inevitable bills come due in lives and treasure, they will be able to tell bigger lies with a straight face...
How have we, the west, gotten so utterly bent logistically? It’s not just a one off thing. It’s like our leadership is absolutely determined to do everything wrong.
Speaking of fuel supplies, from an Australian perspective, we’re critically vulnerable to blockade. We export oil and gas, but we don’t have ANY refinery capacity! We import diesel! And when oil briefly dropped to zero a few years back, our government announced that we would take advantage to create a “Strategic Fuel Reserve”... that was located in the United States.
If a major war breaks out, with a competent adversary striking fuel supplies and transport first? Our entire economy shuts down in less than three months, unless the fuel can get escorted here.
How the hell are we supposed to support allied forces if we can’t even supply ourselves!?
Does this mean the Navy is about to get 25 new PacFlt oilers??
#%@$ !!!!!
I dub thee, "Cassandra."
Seriously, is anybody here actually surprised? Makes ya' wonder if Del Toro fought or rolled over. After all, bringing fuel to Hawaii contributes to climate change. Fighting climate change is his #1 priority.
Hopefully he sees this and has the courage of his convictions to respond to us little people with his version of the facts.
People lie for many reasons. My experience is that politicians tend to lie more than the average person because of the personal gain they believe will be theirs if they are able to get away with the lie. All of their lies violate their oath of office to support and defend the Constitution. In this particular case, the very large potential to lose the next Pacific war due to a lack of chandlery and fueling assets in Hawaii and points west approaches a level of misfeasance/malfeasance of office that is close to treason. I once heard it said that first class executives hire other first class personnel to work for them, but that second class executives hire third rate personnel.
Right now, I don't care which past administration ran the train off the track. The much larger problem is that SecNav is actively ignoring a problem that may result in the deaths of thousands of service personnel as well as encourage the CCP to encroach even further east in the Pacific and into South America and Central America. Apparently the Secretary has yet to figure out that whenever the U.S. retreats, the PRC takes a step forward. Failing to maintain and expand our fueling capabilities in the Pacific is a big step backwards.
Well the "empty calories" Republican leadership in DC will most certainly jawbone the darn thing to death, raising up their indignation and then what follows will be another bowl full of nothing.
It's almost like China and Russia collaborated with Biden officials to implement policies for our Military (to THEIR advantage). Surrender to the Taliban. Don't leave any intel foothold in the region. Leave $80B of perfectly good equipment to be used against us. Eliminate the oil storage in Hawaii as if there are no consequences...What's next? Design a ship that doesn't work and has to be decommissioned within 5 years? Oh...wait...
When the U.S. Navy ran naval shipyards we had a wealth of technical experts. It was a side effect of the process of designing and building warships “in house.” We created military and civilian personal who knew how to design and build complicated industrial systems. Folks moved out of the shipyards into the Navy at large, bringing with them the skills and knowledge accumulated over time.
As the Commander noted, the current status of the tanks is untenable. They are leaking and poisoning people. If something is not done, they will poison everyone.
If the Navy Chief in 1920 were presented with a technical problem, he would have leaned on his technical experts. He would have had experts, and they would have been Navy men. Now, we don’t have technical experts, we have consultants. Instead of SeaBees rolling up their sleeves, and hitting the drawing boards with an attitude of “can do,” we have the beltway consulting class tell us “can’t do,” or worse, “a new, innovative and transformational way of storing fuel.”
We need a navy that can do navy things without hiring outside help.
From "Oil Logistics in the Pacific War":
Is War with the United States Inevitable?…it appears that the policy of the United States toward Japan is based upon the idea of preserving the status quo and aims, in order to dominate the world and defend democracy, to prevent our empire from rising and developing in Eastern Asia. Under these circumstances, it must be pointed out the policies of Japan and the United States are mutually
inconsistent and that it is historically inevitable the conflict between the two countries, which is sometimes tense and moderate, should ultimately lead to war.
Change "Japan" to "China" and the same conclusion exists day. We are so screwed.
Closing of the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility combined with the small amount of AO/AOEs in the Battle Fleet, MSP and NDRF, translates to an outright logistical surrender of the Navy's ability to sustain a fight west of wake. The Navy has done with the stroke of a pen, what the Empire of Japan failed to do in four years of bloody combat.
I was using basic product tankers to do the math the first time I looked at this and it was a steep number to replace the capacity. However, if you look at the capacity of a VLCC like the Alaska Class tankers that ESB/ESD are based on, it's only a smidge over 4.5 ships. Just get NASSCO moving off ESBs and back to Alaska class tankers.
How would the decisions being made by our top officials (top officials!) be any different if they were being made by Chairman Xi?
The Biden administration has an abundance of idiots, environmental wackos, and America haters in key jobs. But, given the infiltration of the Chinese into so many areas in our industry, academia and government agencies, are all these bad decisions merely the incompetence and arrogance of Biden buddies, or are some the result of Chinese "investments" and influence?
It is getting really hard to tell foreign enemies from domestic enemies.
"As I’ve stated before. If you tell a lie; that is on you. If you ask me to join you in your lie; that is on you. If I agree to join you on that lie; that is on me."
That, boys and girls, is why I refuse to use anyone's "preferred" pronouns.