Episode Notes:

Steve joins his co-host Jay to examine the issue defining fleet life right now: how long carriers stay at sea and why so many deployments keep getting extended. They trace what the Optimized Fleet Response Plan was meant to fix, how record-setting cruises since Vietnam are straining ships and crews, and how the tug-of-war between combatant commanders and the services shapes who deploys and for how long. It's the first half of a larger conversation about the forces pulling the Navy in every direction at once, and the sailors caught in the middle.

Image: Nathan Sears via Wikimedia Commons