THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 6, 1994 TAG: 9410060446
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JACK DORSEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 89 lines
Atlantic Fleet Adm. Henry H. Mauz Jr., making a final pitch for a stronger Navy on his last day of active duty, called for an end to the downsizing of forces and a return to a stronger fleet.
His former boss, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jeremy ``Mike'' Boorda, hinted that he soon will be putting together such a plan.
``Clearly we don't need 600 ships, or even 450,'' Mauz said in a farewell address aboard the carrier Theodore Roosevelt. ``But we do need something in the middle- to upper-300s, and with that we need the right mix of assets.''
Mauz made his remarks before a crowd that included some of the most senior military officers in the country. The occasion was the Atlantic Fleet change-of-command ceremony Wednesday at which Mauz, who is retiring after 35 years, was relieved by Adm. William J. Flanagan Jr.
Flanagan, the former commander of the Navy's 2nd Fleet, becomes the 23rd commander-in-chief of the Atlantic Fleet. The fleet has more than 200,000 Navy and Marine personnel - and, at 220, more than half the Navy's ships.
Concerned about deep defense cuts at a time when overseas commitments are growing, Mauz spelled out what he considers the correct mix of carriers, submarines and surface ships for the future.
He challenged the Pentagon's Bottom Up Review, a blueprint for Navy forces, in saying the Navy needs 13 carriers, not just the 11-plus-one-reserve carrier called for; about 60 attack submarines, not 45; and 130 surface combatant ships - such as cruisers, destroyers and frigates - instead of 114.
More large-deck amphibious ships are needed as well, he said, and the Navy should be operating 13 squadrons of P-3 Orion maritime patrol planes, not the 12 squadrons called for in current plans.
Mauz's comments were expected. As he approached retirement, he had become more outspoken about the added commitments his fleet has been required to honor with no added money, equipment or people.
Rep. John P. Murtha, D-Pa., who has been chairman of the powerful Defense Appropriations Subcommittee since 1989, was to have been the principal speaker at the ceremony; Murtha and Mauz have been friends over the years. But Murtha had to stay in Washington and Boorda took his place.
Boorda, speaking ahead of Mauz, hinted that the Navy may be positioning itself for discussions with top defense and administration officials concerning its future size.
``Hank (Mauz), for the past several months, has helped me fashion an idea - it is not yet a plan - but an idea for a Navy that is perhaps slightly larger than the one someone envisioned and one that is certainly more capable,'' Boorda said.
Mauz, who has commanded the Atlantic Fleet since July 1992, has watched his fleet shrink by 79 ships to about 220. He called the past two years ``dramatic'' because of base closings, budget reductions, higher cost of conducting business and increased tempo of operations.
His fleet has supplied added ships for the Haitian and Cuban refugee crisis and honored its normal commitments in the Mediterranean and Persian Gulf.
To do that, he has had to shut down some nonessential operations and delayed some maintenance.
``But it is getting harder, and we are creating a bow wave of maintenance and other costs that we are pushing into the future,'' Mauz said.
He said the fleet's budget for fiscal year 1995, which began this month, already is underfunded.
``None of these Caribbean operations were foreseen by the Bottom Up Review,'' he said.
Between six-month deployments, when crews are supposed to get rest and equipment repairs, the Navy is answering calls in the Caribbean or elsewhere, he said.
``The world out there is becoming more volatile,'' said Mauz. ``Other crises will happen. There could well be another crisis like Desert Storm.''
``As far as overseas presence goes,'' he added, ``it is true we don't have to be everywhere all the time anymore. But we have to be there with enough forces, enough of the time, to be credible and to add to deterrence.
``We can't just put a flag on a frigate and call it forward presence.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
PAUL AIKEN/Staff
Adm. Henry H. Mauz Jr., center, salutes his comrades for the last
time as commander-in-chief of the Atlantic Fleet on the carrier
Theodore Roosevelt. Mauz, retiring after 35 years, was relieved
Wednesday by Adm. William J. Flanagan Jr. Mauz pushed for a navy
with ships in the"mid-to-upper" 300 range. That's more than the
Pentagon now plans:
Graphic
KEYWORDS: CHANGE OF COMMAND RETIREMENT by CNB