Fleet Forces Commander Scolds Weapons Industry for Supply Chain Woes

POLARIS POINT, Guam (Sept. 13, 2021) Sailors and civilian mariners assigned to the submarine tender USS Emory S. Land (AS 39) and Sailors assigned to the Los Angeles-class fast-attack submarine USS Asheville (SSN 758) offload a Mark 48 advanced capability torpedo from Asheville during a weapons handling evolution, Sept. 13, 2021. Emory S. Land is one of two U.S. Navy submarine tenders that provide maintenance, berthing and logistical support to submarines and surface ships in the U.S. 5th and 7th Fleet areas of operation. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Naomi Johnson)

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ARLINGTON, Va. — The Navy’s admiral who sets manning, training, and equipping the fleet scolded the weapons industry in a blistering response to a question from an audience of naval personnel and defense industry officials about delays in delivery of equipment such as weapons. This countered a common industry citation of supply chain woes related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I’m not as forgiving of the industrial base — I’m just not,” said Adm. Daryl Caudle, commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command, speaking Jan. 11 at the annual Surface Navy Association symposium in Arlington. “I am not forgiving of the fact that you are not delivering the ordnance that we need.”

“All this stuff, about COVID this, parts, supply chain this — I just don’t really care. We’ve all got tough jobs,” Caudle said, sparking a round of applause from the audience. “I need SM-6s [Standard Missile-6s] delivered on time, I need Mark 48 torpedoes delivered on time. We’re talking about warfighting, national security and going against a competitor here and a potential adversary that’s like nothing we’ve ever seen, and we kept dilly-dallying around with these deliveries.”

“I don’t see good accountability, I don’t see a good return on investment from the government side,” he said. “If you want to take me to a room and show me your sob story, I’d be happy to hear it, but at the end of the day, I want the magazines filled, all of the ships’ tubes filled.”

Robbing Peter to Pay Paul

“I don’t want to have to bring a strike group back so I can rob Peter to pay Paul so the next one [strike group] can go, and then if I want to help a country out like Ukraine, I’m not sitting, talking about what it is doing to me, I’m talking about, ‘Of course we’re going to help a country, deliver the stuff we need so they can win that conflict against Russia and it’s not going to send me back to the Dark Ages,” Adm. Caudle said.

“I’m frustrated … because it’s so essential to winning, and in my position and for people in the room in uniform, that’s all that matters, and I can’t do that without ordnance,” he said.