The insurgents have taken 18 of the country’s 34 provincial capitals in recent days, including its second- and third-largest cities, Herat and Kandahar.
Absent U.S. assistance in the region, America risks handing the reins of the country’s future to a resurgent ISIS, al-Qaida offshoots and the maligned interests of Iran, Russia and other actors in the region.
The average age of the supply fleet's ships is 43 years, and Virginia Rep. Rob Wittman said this week that such ships would be vital should a conventional war break out.
Navy ships that provide at-sea resupply of fuel, ammo and other surface combatant essentials have seen a surge of readiness issues in the past five years.