US Navy's Birthday

Today is the 231st anniversity of the establishment of the United States Navy. Former secretary of the Navy, John Lehman, shared his alarm about America's security.

"We're building only five ships a year; we're on the way to a 150-ship Navy" he says. In his view, that is courting disaster. "That is not enough to cover our security requirements," he says. "Seventy-percent of the world is covered by water. We no longer have basing rights around the world. If you have combat operations going on you need air cover and support 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and that comes from the Navy. To fly one ton of cargo into Iraq takes 14 tons of fuel. That's not cheap. It's got to go by sea, so you have to protect it. The Iranians, for instance, have very good submarines."

The ultimate threat, he says, is China, which "is now building their 600-ship Navy, to fill the vacuum, and they're very good ships."

We have a special place in our hearts for the Navy SeaBees. Established during WWII, the US Navy Construction Construction Force now deploys anywhere - land or sea.