1. United States
2. Maine
3. Letter

Iran War and Carrier Redesign Are Straining Military Readiness and Costing Billions   I am writing about two Department of Defense concerns.   First, ships, aircraft, and personnel diverted to Iran are reported to be limiting training and readiness elsewhere. The Washington Post recently reported on a classified Pentagon document showing that the service chiefs of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, along with four-star combatant commanders overseeing Europe, the Indo-Pacific, and Latin America, warned Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that continuing the six-month war against Iran is degrading the military’s ability to defend other regions, including the U.S. homeland. Several commanders indicated that they objected to the orders while still carrying them out.  The Pentagon’s reaction failed to address these concerns; instead, they criticized the messenger.  The Iran conflict is increasingly taking on the characteristics of exactly the type of “forever war” Trump ran on a promise to keep us out of. While these threats to readiness are going on, the Navy is apparently responding to Trump’s concerns about the ships’ appearance by studying whether to make the Ford-class carriers look more like older-style carriers—a change the Washington Post reports that the Navy already studied during Trump’s first term and concluded would cost billions and cause significant delays. Trump has further directed the Navy to replace the Ford-class’s electromagnetic catapult with the older steam system on future carriers.  The proposed changes raise questions about whether their operational benefits justify their substantial costs and delays. Both President Trump’s inability to end the Iran War and his desired design and aesthetic changes to aircraft carriers are reported to be straining military readiness and could cost U.S. taxpayers billions of dollars. Accordingly, I ask that you: 1.    Press the Department of Defense for a full accounting of Iran war costs including impacts on training, maintenance, munitions stocks, deployments and readiness across the force. 2.    Condition any additional funding for the Iran war on the administration providing Congress with a clear, credible strategy for ending the conflict, including defined objectives, criteria for success, and an exit strategy.  3.    Oppose funding for carrier design changes that lack a clear operational justification, cost, schedule, and impact on readiness.   Thank you.