Originally Posted by
KenV
It had nothing to do with nuclear refueling and lots to do with opstempo exacerbated by sequestration funding. Carriers can't stay at sea forever, nor can they remain deployed forever. The carrier needs to return to homeport for maintenance, the ship's crew needs to return to homeport for their families and training, and the airwing needs to disembark for deep aircraft maintenance, crew training, family time, etc. When opstempo requires carriers to remain at sea and/or deployed for longer than planned and the rotation cycles are subsequently disrupted, it's just a matter of time before things stack up and everything starts falling apart. Look at the Navy's Hornet and Super Hornet fleets. There are all kinds of availability issues there and that has less than nothing to do with nuclear refueling. Their rotation/maintenance cycles were disrupted by opstempo and sequestration funding issues.
So when exactly did the USA switch to Single Front warfare capabilities?