Due to a manpower shortage, the Navy is planning to sideline 17 vessels and redistribute their operating crews, according to a report.

Due to a manpower shortage, the Navy is reportedly sidelining 17 vessels, making it difficult to properly crew and operate ships across the fleet.

The Navy relies on Merchant Marines to operate the support vessels required for its operations, but there aren't enough of them, according to Rear Admiral (Ret.) Mark Montgomery, senior director of the Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation for the Foundation for Defense of Democracy, who spoke to Planet Chronicle Digital.

"The issue is that the ships are always at sea, which means they're away from home port for 12 months out of the year," Montgomery stated. "As a result, we require two crews, but we're currently facing a shortage of personnel."

Montgomery stated that the shortage of experienced merchant mariners poses a clear threat to national security.

The Military Sealift Command devised a plan to send 17 ships into "extended maintenance," which would entail reassigning crews to other Navy vessels, according to the U.S. Naval Institute.

The fleet comprises two replenishment ships, one fleet oiler, a dozen Spearhead-class Expeditionary Fast Transports, and two forward-deployed Navy expeditionary sea bases, namely the USS Lewis Puller in Bahrain and the USS Herschel "Woody" Williams in Souda Bay, Greece.

The "great reset" initiative, which aims to reduce Navy demands for officers by 700 mariners, is currently awaiting approval from Adm. Lisa Franchetti.

Over the past few years, the U.S. military has faced recruiting challenges, particularly in the Army, which had to reduce its force by 24,000 jobs, or 5%, in 2024 due to recruiting shortfalls. The Army emphasized that this move does not involve asking current soldiers to leave but rather filling vacant positions.

Montgomery stressed that the issue mostly affects Merchant Marines.

Montgomery explained that while sailors tend to man warships, merchant mariners also play a crucial role in the Navy by manning oilers, ammo ships, and transports that transport the Army and Marine Corps across water.

"As 90% of trade is carried out by ships rather than aircrafts, the same principle applies at sea: It is too challenging and expensive to transport everything by aircraft, so it is moved by ships," he stated.

An alternative version of the sentence could be: A support group will consist of one or two ships that will move either in proximity or just behind a carrier group of over half a dozen ships, with specific jobs depending on region. Montgomery pointed out an example from five years ago when the navy attempted to deploy 60 ships but only managed to get 25 to sea due to a shortage of personnel, and the age of the ships is still a concern.

"Montgomery stated that the average age of the ships in the reserve force is approximately 45 years old. He added that a suitable age range for these ships is between 20 and 30 years, as they do not require significant modernization of weapon systems and electrical power distribution. However, 17 of the ships are over 50 years old."

Over the next four years, starting in 2022, the Navy plans to decommission 48 ships as part of a 30-year shipbuilding strategy, according to Seapower magazine.

In 2023, the Navy retired 11 ships, including missile cruisers, dock landing ships, and ocean tugs.

By the time of publication, the U.S. Navy had not responded to a Planet Chronicle Digital request for comment.