The other shoe drops:
As the Navy’s unprecedented response to Haiti’s post-earthquake humanitarian crisis entered its third week, the sudden spike in operational tempo showed no sign of slowing. More warships, Military Sealift Command and Maritime Administration vessels were on station or en route to help answer a desperate call for supplies and medical help.
The large fleet presence raised two big questions that Navy officials said they could not publicly address as the Haiti mission unfolded:
How will it affect deployments? And what will it cost?
As Navy Times went to press Jan. 22, the U.S. had committed some 30 Navy, Coast Guard, MSC and MarAd ships to its Haitian task force, serving as lily pads for helicopters, helping to restore Port-au-Prince’s shattered harbor or evacuating Americans. Some of the vessels were called up from a reserve status, as with the hospital ship Comfort, so the duration of their missions would not have much effect for other units.
But each day a Navy warship spent off Haiti was a day another ship had to take its place elsewhere in the world, or a day it couldn’t prepare for its previously scheduled Navy tasking.
I’m not saying the effort is not necessary-but if the Navy had more ships than flag officers-instead of the other way around-this could be more easily accommodated.