Dunford: Truman retirement decision is reversible if assumptions don't pan out

The Pentagon could reverse its decision to retire the aircraft carrier Harry Truman early if the Navy is not able to develop the maritime strike capabilities it desires by the mid-2020s, the military's top officer told lawmakers today.

"An important assumption is the money that was saved by not refueling the Truman would be used to develop new ways of conducting maritime strike," Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford told the House Armed Services Committee during a hearing about the Pentagon's fiscal year 2020 budget request.

"If that assumption doesn't obtain, then we'll have to go back to the [Navy] secretary and have a conversation about reversibility of the decision because new programs combined with the programs of record today won't meet our aggregate maritime strike capability by the mid-20s," he continued.

Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan also said there is no draw down in capacity until the mid-2020s, "so it's not like this is an irreversible decision."

Dunford's comments were in response to questions by Rep. Rob Wittman (R-VA) about the operational impact of retiring the Truman. Wittman also asked the chairman about whether the Pentagon could meet its requirements to have two carriers continuously operating and three ready to deploy in a surge capacity with a nine-carrier force.

"Congressman, it would be difficult to do that," Dunford responded.

The Navy's new long-range shipbuilding plan projects that if the service goes forward with the Truman's early retirement, it will have nine aircraft carriers in FY-27.

The proposal to retire the Truman early has drawn bipartisan resistance on Capitol Hill, including rebukes from Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe (R-OK) and House Armed Services seapower and projection forces subcommittee Chairman Joe Courtney (D-CT).

Courtney today called the decision "premature" because the Navy is in the middle of a force-structure assessment due to be completed later this year.