The fact that he is discussing readiness AT ALL in an unclassified document is the problem.
The communication should have been a classified message since it addresses readiness, probably on the TS level when you’re talking about an asset like a carrier and the airwing.
What passage of the letter that addressed readiness are you referring to, beyond the one that said he'd go to sea and kick anyone's ass he had to?
It’s not bringing up the presence of the disease on his ship that’s the problem; it’s the discussion of readiness of a “national asset” in an unclassified manner, where the world can see it and it can be leaked. That is the problem. Trying to protect your sailors is highly commendable but that’s not the mission of a carrier at sea. It’s to project American power and policy in contested waters. Tough thing to say but that’s how it has to be even during “peacetime ops
We don’t have the number of operational carriers that we had a few years ago and if our adversaries know one of our deployed carriers is going to be out of commission for a while, what’s the likelihood that our adversaries will try to do something stupid?
“Operational necessity” comes into play and it’s one of those phrases used to justify flying in really BAD conditions (weather and/or pitching deck) and in iin effectsaying, “we’re going to accept the risk of losing an aircraft or air crew” even during peace time ops. Search You Tube for pitching deck operations.
