‘Poor Material Condition’ of Navy Amphib Fleet Prevents Marine Deployments, Training, Says GAO

[Tony]

Delayed and skipped amphibious warship maintenance has prevented Marine Corps units from training and deploying on schedule, reads a new Government Accountability Office report released on Tuesday.

Sixteen out of the 32 ships in the amphibious fleet are considered to be in “poor material condition” by the Navy’s own standards. Those ships include almost all of the Whidbey Island and Harpers Ferry landing ship docks and the majority of the Wasp-class big-deck amphibious assault ships, according to the GAO study ordered as part of the Fiscal Year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act.