Rapid Fire 2011-10-07: Moving Carriers Around | Industrial Capabilities

• Early retirement? Defense News says USS George Washington (CVN 73) might be decommissioned in 2016, instead of going through refueling and overhaul. This is based on 2 unnamed Pentagon sources and was not officially confirmed or denied.

• Early homeporting? Floridian Democrat Senator Bill Nelson, Republican Senator Marco Rubio and Congressman Ander Crenshaw asked Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Greenert to consider advancing the move of a nuclear aircraft carrier to Naval Station Mayport from FY19 to FY16. Currently the 5 Atlantic Fleet CVNs are all homeported at Norfolk, VA, which, some say, contributes to an over-reliance of the Hampton Roads region on defense. Related: GAO report (March 2011), CRS backgrounder [PDF, May 2011].

• Newport News Shipbuilding is expanding its shipyard where parts of Virginia Block III SSN 787 are currently being built.

• ITT Corporation’s board of directors approved the spinoffs of its defense and water businesses which will be known respectively as ITT Exelis and Xylem. The separation is to be completed by the end of the month.

• Oshkosh has reached a tentative deal with the UAW Local 578 union which will hold a vote tomorrow. The truck manufacturer also named John Urias, a former Army major general, President of its defense segment.

• Food fight. During a hearing of the Subcommittee on Contracting Oversight she chairs, US Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) complained that some contractors supplying food to military bases and other facilities don’t pass along savings from supplier rebates through to the government.

• US SecDef Leon Panetta listed guidelines to decide when to end the war in Libya: Gadhafi’s forces have to really be out, including in his hometown Sirte, and “opposition forces [should be] able to provide security” in the country. That latter statement sounds rather open-ended.

• The US Office of USD Acquisition, Technology and Logistics published its annual Industrial Capabilities report [PDF] to Congress earlier this week. Among FY11 highlights: the Solid Rocket Motor (SRM) Industrial Base Sustainment Plan (see also this PDF report) and an assessment of rare earth oxide (REO) supplies. The conundrum is that REOs come overwhelmingly from China, but defense accounts for only around 7% of North-American demand. For reference, last year’s Industrial Capabilities report [PDF].

• Yesterday’s US House Armed Committee hearing was on DoD’s financial management workforce. Video below: