MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
The U.S. military action in Iran was preceded by a massive buildup of Navy vessels, including America's newest and largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford. As NPR first reported, the Ford has also battled problems with sewage and other maintenance issues. Steve Walsh with WHRO in Norfolk, Virginia, is here to tell us more about it. Good morning, Steve.
STEVE WALSH, BYLINE: Hi, Michel.
MARTIN: So the Ford is one of two U.S. aircraft carriers participating in the strikes against Iran. What has it been doing since Saturday?
WALSH: So right now, the USS Ford is in the eastern Mediterranean. It's off the coast of Israel, near the port of Haifa. The carrier is conducting flight operations around the clock. Its positioning allows the Ford to defend the state of Israel from incoming drone and missile attacks as the two countries continue to carry out airstrikes.
MARTIN: So you first broke news of some of the Ford's troubles since it left Norfolk last June. Would you just remind us of what's going on?
WALSH: Yeah. I mean, we've previously reported on how problems with the sewage system led to toilet breakdowns throughout the ship. According to Navy memos reviewed by NPR, the problems grew worse during the first few months of the deployment. There were multiple breakdowns each day, and sailors on board were struggling to find a solution. The Navy says the issues did get better after that period, but they are still seeing on average one call per day.
I talked to Senator Mark Warner during a stop in Norfolk, Virginia, over the weekend. He expressed concerns over the goals of the Iran military operation and how long the Ford has been out to sea.
MARK WARNER: It kind of adds insult to injury if you are deployed now for months beyond what you expected and the sewage system doesn't work. What kind of stress are we putting on these sailors?
WALSH: USS Ford was caught up in the Trump administration's operation to oust the leader of Venezuela. Then it was the only carrier available when the Trump administration decided to attack Iran.
MARTIN: Would you just say more about the sorts of problems that come up with a carrier being at sea that long?
WALSH: Well, I talked to retired Captain John Cordle about that. He is what's called a human factors engineer. He worked on the Navy's report on the carrier USS Truman, which saw a crash and several lost F-18s during a hectic deployment in the Red Sea that ended last June. He says sailors get in - get kind of stuck into a mindset.
JOHN CORDLE: There's a difference between the can-do attitude and then the just-get-it-done attitude that was noted in the Harry S. Truman report, where people take shortcuts.
WALSH: In January, chief of naval operations Admiral Daryl Caudle said he didn't want to see the Ford extended, fearing the impact on the crew and their families, though he released a message late last week saying the ship was ready. When it finally returns, the carrier is scheduled for maintenance in Norfolk, which includes an upgrade to its beleaguered plumbing system.
MARTIN: And do we have a sense of how the crew is handling this deployment?
WALSH: I talked to a parent of a crew member who says in February, the crew was told that they would be home by early March. Less than 12 hours later, they were told the carrier was being diverted from the Caribbean back to the Mediterranean and they probably wouldn't be home until May. The parent told me some sailors took the news hard, with some questioning whether they want to stay in the Navy. If the carrier doesn't return home until May, it could set a post-COVID record, when sailors were quarantined at sea for close to a year.
MARTIN: Wow. That is Steve Walsh with WHRO in Norfolk, Virginia. Steve, thank you.
WALSH: Thanks, Michel. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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