The Navy’s top officer has announced that the fleet this year will shrink by a net of at least 10 warships, bringing the total below 280. The fleet hasn’t been that small since the 1930s, when the US was a regional power and the Navy did not have global duties. Adm. Michael G. Mullen, the Chief of Naval Operations, noted that the Navy will take delivery of three new destroyers, three bew amphibious transport docks, and one new attack submarine, but those additions are offset by retirements.
Former Air Force Secretary Michael B. Donley is back at the Pentagon, taking over a job he previously held before leading the service. Donley on May 5 began serving as the director of administration and management, the job known as the “mayor of the Pentagon,” Pentagon spokesman John F. Kirby…