interest payment on his loans.

It appears SECNAV and the CNO are supporting NATO rather than the Putin boot-lickers in the White House. Also, that's nearly a Billion dollar chunk of DoD budget to bring the 2nd Fleet staffing up to date.

And a GOP lead Congress just let them do that?

Haele

Seems Mattis is the main man.





......The 2nd Fleet, according to the Navy, “will exercise operational and administrative authorities over assigned ships, aircraft and landing forces on the East Coast and the North Atlantic." It will also supply ships to other commands worldwide.

The Navy first indicated it was re-establishing the fleet last spring, asserting it was needed “to better respond to the changing security environment.”

That was an apparent reference to an aggressive Russian military buildup that led Defense Secretary Jim Mattis to issue a new National Defense Strategy in January. The strategy shifted the Pentagon from focusing primarily on counterterrorism to “great power competition."

“This move is driven by Secretary Mattis,” said retired Adm. Melvin Williams, who led the 2nd Fleet from 2008 to 2010. “He came out with a defense strategy that shifted focus to major competitors, so 2nd Fleet, as they come back, will be more involved in the basics of dealing with a major competitor, be it Russia or China.

"Whereas after 9/11 a lot of our emphasis was on dealing with terrorism and piracy and supporting operations in the Middle East," he added. "That’s the back to the future aspect of it."..................................