Hm. Many people just do not understand the importance of the Navy. To them, it is old and archaic.
They don’t understand the maritime commerce is the lifeblood of our country. Nobody reads “The Influence of Seapower upon History” anymore unless you go to the Naval Academy.
But it always seems like a good idea to people to draw down the Navy.
For Pete’s sake - there’s a difference in defense vs offense.
Do we need to have 3 carrier groups in the ME area ? Yes, because our short-sighted government has us tied to Arab oil and maintains open borders at home. Would we need 3 carrier groups there if we were energy self-sufficient ? No.
Yes, the navy is a vital institution in the defense of this country, but we don’t need to be all over the globe on a daily basis to defend shipping.
We should take a page out of our early history. Then: Barbary pirates preying on shipping ? Go level Montezuma and see if they continue. Today: Somali pirates a problem ? Go level Mogadishu and see if they continue.
Our biggest problem is that we refuse to use our military assets wisely and to best effect. We use them cruising around the world as a warning. I think we’d get a bigger effect with fewer assets if we just shelled/bombed the trouble spots when they cause trouble. Simply threatening to do so without ever taking action makes us a paper tiger and the world knows it.