Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) yesterday asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to address numerous issues related to fiscal responsibility and strategic necessity in its forthcoming report on the Navy's proposal to homeport a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier at Naval Station Mayport, Fla. The GAO's independent analysis of the Navy's plan, included at Senator Webb's initiative in the Senate version of the FY 2012 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA, S. 1253), is due to Congress by February 2012.
"With all the conflicting arguments regarding the Mayport proposal, an independent, risk-based review is needed to guide the decision-making process," said Senator Webb. "As the GAO begins it analysis, highlighting the numerous questions that remain regarding the strategic necessity and fiscal responsibility of the Navy's proposal will ensure a thorough, non-political final report."
In his letter to the Comptroller General, accompanied by a more detailed three-page list of strategic, operational, fiscal, and technical questions, Senator Webb asks: "Did the Navy follow best-business practices to prepare a comprehensive analysis of alternatives for East Coast CVN homeporting? Do other more cost-effective alternatives exist to sustain Naval Station Mayport's mission in the future? Is there a compelling risk-based justification for the Navy to build redundant infrastructure on the East Coast? Most importantly, does the number of ships in the Navy's force structure justify the addition of yet another nuclear-support facility?"
Senator Webb, who served as Secretary of the Navy in the Reagan Administration, has repeatedly voiced his concerns about the lack of strategic necessity and fiscal responsibility of the Navy's plan to build redundant nuclear-support infrastructure needed to homeport a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier at Naval Station Mayport. In June, his provision in the Senate report (SR-112-26) accompanying the FY2012 NDAA, required the GAO to conduct an independent analysis of the Navy's plan, assessing such factors as the strategic, fiscal and operational risks, requirements, and constraints the Navy's plan seeks to address.
In November 2010, a GAO report prepared at the request of Senator Webb, Senator Mark Warner, and other senators found a multi-billion dollar backlog of restoration and modernization requirements at the U.S. Navy's four public shipyards, highlighting the importance of maintaining existing shipyards properly before spending up to $1 billion for redundant maintenance facilities in Mayport, Florida.
On March 31, another GAO report raised questions around the capability of the Naval Station Mayport to perform the full cycle of major maintenance required to service a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, while the Navy's facilities in Norfolk have the proven ability to do such work.