Where Are The Carriers? Why Does The United States Only Have Eleven Aircraft Carriers

Captain Marty Erdosey, USN (Retired), wrote an interesting piece for Forbes about why we need more aircraft carriers in this dangerous modern world.

Throughout the history of carrier aviation, it has been said that the first thing a President asks during times of crisis is: “Where is the nearest aircraft carrier?”

Our nation’s aircraft carriers have and will continue to serve as the centerpiece for our National Security Strategy. Given the Administration’s recent embrace of the Navy’s “Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Sea Power” and the increased commitment to the Pacific Rim, this holds true more now than ever before.

Aircraft carriers provide four-and-a-half acres of survivable, sovereign U.S. territory wherever they deploy. They represent a unique warfare capability that can quickly arrive at a trouble spot and provide robust, and sustainable combat air power. The modern air wing can provide credible combat capacity with 80-125 air dominance, strike, electronic warfare, and surveillance combat missions each day. Carriers are both responsive and capable of immediate action, as they enable our nation to project power worldwide from the sea without dependence on other governments or local bases. By relying on aircraft carriers, our country avoids the huge investment required to establish and maintain bases and infrastructure ashore in a foreign country. 

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2012/07/17/why-does-the-united-states-only-have-eleven-aircraft-carriers/

Note: The above U.S. Navy photo is of the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan.