Over a Third of U.S. Navy Ships in Pacific Lack Training Certification -Watchdog [View all]

[Dennis Donovan]

http://gcaptain.com/over-a-third-of-u-s-navy-ships-in-pacific-lack-training-certification-watchdog/



WASHINGTON, Sept 7 (Reuters) – A U.S. government watchdog said on Thursday that more than a third of U.S. Navy ships based out of Japan had expired warfare training certifications, as lawmakers raised concerns about readiness after a series of collisions involving the Navy this year.

The U.S. Navy recently removed Seventh Fleet Commander Vice Admiral Joseph Aucoin after a pre-dawn collision between a guided-missile destroyer and a merchant vessel east of Singapore and Malaysia in August, the fourth major incident in the U.S. Pacific Fleet this year.

In the latest incident, 10 sailors were killed after the USS John S. McCain collided with a merchant vessel in waters near Singapore and Malaysia, triggering a fleet-wide probe of operations and training.

In June, the USS Fitzgerald collided with a Philippine container ship, killing seven U.S. sailors.

Speaking before a House of Representatives Armed Services Committee hearing, John Pendleton, from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), said that a report had found that 37 percent of U.S. Navy cruisers and destroyers based out of Japan had expired warfare certifications as of June 2017. That was a five-fold increase from the number in May 2015.

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