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CNO wants faster decommissioning for Enterprise

The aircraft carrier Enterprise, aging and one of a kind, may be out of the fleet sooner than expected.

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead said he intends to get the required congressional dispensation to decommission the ship in 2012 or 2013, taking the flattop fleet down to 10 ships for a few years until the Gerald R. Ford comes online. That’s expected in 2015.

“We really need to take Enterprise out of service,” he told Navy Times. “That ship is old, and it has served extraordinarily well. It has served longer than any aircraft carrier in the history of the United States Navy. And it’s time. She’s safe. She’s going through an availability now. But Enterprise deserves to go to pasture.”

The Big E currently is slated for decommissioning in 2012, pending the congressional waiver.

“I’ve got to get relief from the law, but I’d like to get her out in ’12 or ’13,” he said. “What we have to do is go before the authorization committees and make the case [for 10 carriers].”

Commissioned in 1961, the Enterprise was the world’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. In 1962, it was part of the 2nd Fleet quarantine of Cuba during the nuclear showdown with the Soviet Union.

In 1965, the carrier became the first nuclear-powered ship to engage in combat during strikes on North Vietnam.

Roughead said CVN 65 will deploy one last time — and then that’s it.

Big E’s age and number of reactors — eight — mean the decommissioning process will be long, labor-intensive and expensive.

“Enterprise just doesn’t lay up like a conventional ship,” he said. “We have never decommissioned a nuclear aircraft carrier, and it’s a significant undertaking. We have to get on with that process because it’s going to take us a while to do that.”

While Beltway insiders are speculating on an eventual reduction in the carrier fleet down to nine, Roughead said doing without the Enterprise will be feasible until Ford joins the fleet.

“We have looked at our carriers and carrier schedules to meet the presence requirements from combatant commanders. And because of the Fleet Response Plan we can do it with 10 carriers,” he said. “I do believe that our carrier force of 11 is what the nation and the Navy needs to fulfill the presence requirement and the response requirement.”