Navy fleet commanders identified — but did not address — training deficiencies during deployment cycles for Arleigh Burke-class missile destroyers, said a Department of Defense report released Tuesday.
According to the Department of Defense Inspector General, investigators — who examined Navy readiness assessments and ships' waivers from readiness requirements between August 2013 and April 2018 — found that training deficiencies persisted because the Navy did not always complete training requirements in accordance with the Surface Force Readiness Manual.
For example, the report said, the USS Howard did not complete all Strike Warfare mission area exercises, and as a result, the ship will not be able to conduct gunnery support, such as identifying where the ship is shooting.
Findings for each ship are redacted in the public version of the report, but it states that nine of the 12 destroyers' commanding officers reported training deficiencies such as inability to be certified or maintain proficiency in mission areas such as electronic warfare.
The report recommends that the Commander of U.S. Fleet Forces Command, in collaboration with commanders of three U.S. fleets, determine whether Burke-class destroyers have outstanding training deficiencies, and direct Burke-class destroyers to complete any outstanding training requirements "immediately or as soon as the mission allows."
