On Saturday, March 16th the fifth ship carrying the name USS Idaho will be commissioned at Electric Boat in Groton Connecticut. The newest member of the Virginia Class of fast attack subs is SSN 799 USS Idaho. Former Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne will lead the Commissioning Committee made up of distinguished Idaho citizens, several who have themselves been in the nuclear Navy — “Nuke’s”.
The Monday before the commissioning, an event was held at the Egyptian Theater in Boise featuring a PBS documentary about the history of the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). Featured speakers including former Governor Kempthorne brought out the close relationship between the U.S. Navy and Idaho. Over 40,000 sailors and officers trained on nuclear reactor prototypes at (INL) prior to their assuming their responsibilities on Navy ships and submarines. Many came back to live in Idaho after their service to the Navy including several of my shipmates.
I served on the USS Virginia CGN 38 a nuclear cruiser. As the medical officer, I was also the “radiation Health Officer”. I did my reactor training at Ballston Spa New York, but of the 22 Nuclear Engineers “Nukes” on Virginia, all but two trained at (INL). The Commanding Officer of our ship Captain George Davis—later to be Vice Admiral Davis, served for one year at (INL) as a site manager.
Idaho loves the military and the military loves Idaho. Unfortunately, our military is in decline because of progressive liberal policies. During the presentation at the Egyptian Theater, it was mentioned that we have 3 carrier groups currently “underway”. That is very different than being deployed—we are supposed to have 11 carrier groups in a state of operational readiness—the real number is estimated to be 7. In both the Navy and Air Force the operational readiness number for all air platforms is less than 50%.
President Biden and apparently our Congress believe that in spite of increasing world tensions, now is a good time to place our military budget on a diet in 2025 and moving forward. The newest proposal is for a 1% increase in military spending—a 2% decrease when counting for inflation. The number this year is $850billion.
The Biden administration is asking for a decrease in force size for all branches of our military. Recruiting numbers are down and retention of active-duty personnel—especially those with special skills like “Nukes”, pilots and weapons specialists is reaching a critical level.
The US Navy will purchase 6 ships and retire 10 this year. One of the sister ships of the new Virginia Class SSN Idaho has been cut. Our advantage at sea with our submarine force—an advantage very much connected to Idaho at both (INL) and the Farragut Naval Base acoustic facility on Lake Pend Oreille is being threatened by the Chinese Navy.
Progressives and liberals don’t care about National Defense. Today military spending is 3.2% of (GDP). In 10 years, the Biden budget projects the number to be 2.4%. As the world becomes more dangerous, our ability to protect ourselves is becoming suspect. Our enemies are watching. They will take advantage of even a perception of weakness and just think how much that will cost!
Here is the scary number. Today our interest payment on the Federal Debt is higher than the amount we spend on our military. We are stealing from our children and grandchildren’s futures and their liberty, and very few people are talking about it. Now is the time to make a downpayment on the future of our country. If Idahoans love and respect our military, how come the members of our Congressional Delegation in Washington aren’t leading the charge against the cuts in the military budget?
