Weeks before fiscal year 2015 comes to a close, Navy officials warned lawmakers that passing a continuing resolution would make it more difficult to execute its new Optimized Fleet Response Plan meant to stabilize ship maintenance and deployment schedules.

CVN-71 Theodore Roosevelt
CVN-71 Theodore Roosevelt

If Congress passes a continuing resolution, the Navy estimates that it would be left with anywhere from $3.6 billion to $16.5 billion less than the amount requested in the president’s fiscal 2016 budget, depending on the length of the continuing resolution and what level of funding Congress decides to appropriate,  said Rear Adm. Jeffrey A. Harley, assistant deputy chief of naval operations for operations, plans, and strategy (OPNAV N3/5B).

“We absolutely rely on the predictability of that funding. A continuing resolution would have impacts of its own,” he said during a House Armed Services Committee readiness subcommittee hearing on Thursday. “We would likely have to start deferring some maintenance because of the lack of predictability. This has a daisy chain effect of repercussions throughout the maintenance schedule, a daisy chain effect in terms of our ability to provide global presence required to support and defend our allies and to meet our commitments in accordance with the defense strategic guidance.”

Fiscal year 2016 begins on Oct. 1.

Capt. Thom Burke, director of fleet readiness (N43), said a CR could influence private sector and regional maintenance center work, although the full effect of such legislation is still unknown.

“It depends a lot on the nature of the CR, the bogey number that we’re worried about as far as the shortfalls, and how long it goes on. If it’s a short CR, probably not much of an impact because we can work through it. We can work the funding we have to get those availabilities in the beginning of the year started,” he said after the hearing. “But if it goes on and on, I’ll be able to tell you by hull number which availabilities get canceled next summer.”

That lack of predictability could encumber the implementation of the Optimized Fleet Response Plan (OFRP), Burke and Harley said. Over the last decade, the Navy has had to contend with a high operational tempo that forced it to deploy ships for longer period than usual, sometimes for almost 10 months at a time. That practice, in turn, caused a ripple effect of delays and cutbacks to training and maintenance.

The OFRP, which was unveiled in 2014, aims to cut deployments down to seven months, followed by a six-month maintenance period. The service has already begun transitioning ships to the new construct, including the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69), USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) and USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77), Burke said. The last carrier strike groups and amphibious ready groups will enter OFRP in fiscal 2018.

During the hearing, Harley also addressed lawmakers concerns about a potential aircraft carrier gap in the Middle East this fall. The USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) is scheduled to leave the Central Command (CENTCOM) area of responsibility and, once it enters maintenance, will transition to the OFRP. The USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) will not take the Roosevelt’s place until at least a month later.

Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Conn.) asked if Congress should expect additional carrier gaps in the future as a result of the plan.

“OFRP is not the creator of gaps. OFRP is a model that generates the optimal employability for the number of ships that we have,” Harley responded. The Navy’s goal is to have two carriers deployed and three ready to deploy by 2020, which means that having a carrier constantly operating in CENTCOM is not a given.

“Will there be shortages of carrier presence in the future? I would say, most likely,” he said.

However, he noted that when a carrier cannot be deployed to CENTCOM, the Joint Staff and combatant commanders try to mitigate its absence with other assets, he said. CENTCOM has been left without carrier presence six times since 1991.