Washington, D.C. (WTKR) - Top Navy leaders talked about plans to reduce the length of deployments before Congress on Thursday.
Rear Admiral Jeffrey Harley, Assistant Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Operations, Plans and Strategy, as well as Captain Thom Burke, Director, Fleet Readiness testified before the House Armed Services Committee's Subcommittee on Readiness.
The pair talked to members about the Navy's Optimized Fleet Response Plan (O-FRP).
RADM Harley told members that recent prolonged deployments, including a recent 9-month deployment by the Norfolk-based USS George HW Bush have "led to a loss of stability for Sailors and their families."
He continued, "we are now paying the price for this prolonged high operational tempo."
Under O-FRP, the Navy hopes to lock ships into more strict maintenance and deployment schedules.
The Navy's transition to O-FRP is currently in progress for Carrier Strike Groups and Amphibious Ready Groups, with the goal of all forces being in the rotation by 2020.
Having ships and submarines completing maintenance on time will be critical to reducing deployment durations.
You can read the entire testimony before the Subcommittee on Readiness here.
