I will fight the wasteful, costly political move of a Norfolk-based aircraft carrier to Mayport, Florida. My supporter, Admiral Groothousen provides an outstanding analysis of the vital importance of our aircraft carriers to move to theaters when needed to project our power. With fewer military bases and air strips, America will have an increased need for aircraft carriers.

In defense of the aircraft carrier fleet

By Michael R Groothousen, a retired rear admiral, lives in Virginia Beach.

A recent column ["Challenging the Navy's numbers," Walter Pincus, Jan. 4] advocated a course of action that, if followed, would have harmful consequences for American national security and damage our country’s standing in the world. The author advocates reducing the size of the bulwark of America’s global defense capability – our aircraft carrier fleet – without addressing the dire results of such an action.

Ninety percent of international trade moves safely and freely over the world’s oceans and seas, much to America’s – and the free world’s – benefit. A significant part of the reason is because American aircraft carriers provide us with the capability to defend our interests, neutralize our foes and deter would-be enemies in any corner of the globe more rapidly than other forces, without the permission of foreign powers.

But our ability to do all of this is entirely predicated on the current carrier force structure, which is barely sufficient to meet our combatant commanders’ needs, even though the Navy has already significantly increased the frequency and duration of deployment for our carrier sailors.

America is the strongest, most prosperous and most free country in the world. With our strength comes responsibilities that we can shirk only at our peril. The larger, wealthier and stronger we grow, the more we become a target for current and would-be rivals and opponents worldwide who seek to challenge us, if not to usurp our dominance for economic, strategic and/or ideological reasons.

For at least five centuries the global maritime commons has been guarded by a maritime “superpower.” As that mantle has passed among nations such as Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom and the U.S., so has each country’s era of greatness. Our decision now is whether, in the future, this will be our role or someone else’s.

To cite but one example, let’s consider the Asia-Pacific region. The Navy’s Pacific fleet protects America’s key allies, deters rivals and keeps open vital shipping lanes over more than 100 million square miles – more than half the surface of the planet. This region is also home to one of the greatest economic and military challengers to American supremacy, the People’s Republic of China. It is home to that country’s client state, North Korea. China already has nuclear missiles capable of targeting our country, and soon North Korea may, as well.

Our capacity to mount sufficient combat capability to deter these rivals – much less engage them successfully in the case of hostilities – while at the same time ensuring the security of Middle Eastern oil and worldwide seaborne commerce, in spite of an increasingly belligerent Iran, is clearly and unquestionably tethered to maintaining our carrier fleet.

Read more here: http://hamptonroads.com/2012/01/defense-aircraft-carrier-fleet