§8678a Limitation on Decommissioning or Inactivating a Battle Force Ship Before the End of Expected Service Life

Summary

The Secretary of the Navy cannot retire or take a battle force ship out of service before the ship’s expected service life ends. The Secretary can allow an early removal only if two things happen: within three days after the President sends the budget materials under section 1105(a) of title 31 for that fiscal year, the Secretary gives the congressional defense committees a written certification, and at least 30 days have passed after the National Defense Authorization Act for that fiscal year is enacted. The certification must say five specific things: keeping the ship in reduced operating status, keeping it with reduced capability, making it a Navy Reserve unit, or transferring it to the Coast Guard are each not feasible, and keeping the ship is not needed to support the most recent national defense strategy under section 113(g). It must explain the options considered and why those conclusions were reached. The certification must be unclassified but may include a classified annex. Definitions: “battle force ship” means either a commissioned U.S. warship that can fight or a U.S. Naval Ship that directly supports Navy combat or support missions. “Expected service life” means the number of years the ship is expected to be in service.