Ken Herron

rate in a war is usually in no more than double digits. That does not make it any more desirable but it is not as devastating as it formerly was.

The Navy has about 330,000 active participants with 107,500 reservists available on call. The USA has 273 battle ships that are operational with 54 of them deployed in foreign seas at this time. The armament on these battleships goes far beyond the ability that was available thirty to forty years ago. The ships still have the large guns that would be used in ship-to-ship battles but they have the ability to fire guided missiles to onshore targets hundreds of miles away and cause the missile to hit a specific window of a building. The country has built and operated 77 aircraft carriers since the beginning in 1922. There are currently ten active aircraft carriers in the American fleet. Only three of them are outside of American waters at this time. All ten of the current fleet are powered by nuclear engines that carry enough fuel for long excursions into foreign waters. There are over 3700 airplanes available that can operate from an aircraft carrier. They also carry helicopters for rapid sea to land and land to sea exchanges of personnel. There are two additional aircraft carriers under construction at this time and a third is on the drawing board with funds already allocated for it to be built. These aircraft carriers are complete floating airbases. In addition to their ability for airplanes to land and take off, the carrier has complete living quarters for the entire crew