Secretary Esper’s 355-ship fleet plan fuels inequality, a breakdown
Speaking Security Newsletter | Advisory Note for Organizers and Candidates, n°45 | 18 September 2020
Situation
Former Raytheon lobbyist and current Secretary of Defense Mark Esper outlined a plan for a 355-ship US Navy fleet:
The inequality machine
Defense contractors eat more of the war budget than military personnel, by a ~2.4:1 ratio. Personnel received a 3 percent pay raise this year, which is around the rate of inflation. Conversely, the annual cost growth rate of ships that far outpaces inflation:
^The study from which I pulled this chart is from a while ago, but far as I can tell these rates have held steady (aside from gasoline I guess).
Does the increase in ships lead to a commiserate increase in US Navy personnel? No, it would yield a drop of about 100 sailors (at least) per ship.
Esper’s plan marks a ~55 ship increase from what the Navy’s got now (~300):
Personnel levels, US Navy:
Meanwhile:
“Esper and his deputies have argued that America’s private health system can pick up the slack” for any servicemembers who lose coverage as a result of the cuts.
Appalling. Here are the Senators who voted to confirm Esper as Secretary of Defense:
Thanks for your time,
Stephen (@stephensemler; stephen@securityreform.org)
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