Navy wants under 1,000 sailors on new carriers

Colleges and Universities A-Z Naval Academy - Annapolis
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<p><a href="http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/10/navy_optimalmanning_071019w/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/10/navy_optimalmanning_071019w/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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The Navy wants to figure out a way to put an aircraft carrier to sea with a crew of fewer than 1,000 sailors.</p>

<p>Huh? Or better, how?</p>

<p>In an era when manpower costs devour 60 percent of annual Navy budgets, the service has been hard pressed not only to reduce its end strength so it can afford the ships and aircraft it wants, but to pare down crew sizes while making the most of each sailor....

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<p>1,000 still seems like a lot lol</p>

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<p>^^^^
The 1,000 is the ships complement which excludes the air wing, battle group staff, and marines. The Nimitz Class carrier has 5,500 personnel on board when deployed.</p>

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<p>Just for some perspective: The battleship New Jersey put to sea with 2700 officers and crew on deployments.</p>

<p>From talking with sailors this summer, as well as the new duty sections this year, we're finding that fewer sailors = more duty hours, longer working days, and just more expected of each individual sailor than ever before. Some are ready to jump on board, others hate it.</p>