Assessing Navy Readiness Funding
The first ten months of 2017 have posed daunting challenges for the U.S. Navy in the Pacific with the deaths of 17 sailors and multiple serious mishaps. Some lawmakers have pointed to these tragedies as evidence of a “readiness crisis,” resulting in part from insufficient funding from Congress. This paper analyzes the Navy’s readiness funding for maintenance and training within the Navy’s operation and maintenance (O&M) budget relative to historical norms and normalized for the size of the fleet. It assesses the issue of whether or not Navy funding for maintenance and training has declined in recent years relative to historical levels of funding. It does not attempt to assess actual readiness levels of the fleet, which are a function of much more than just funding levels.