keady - i submit a new "three biggest lies:
    1. The check is in the mail

    2. The goods are on the truck

    3. The Naval pilot toilets work


Toilet issues on USS Gerald R. Ford are ‘highly exaggerated,’ says CNO
By Riley Ceder May 19, 2026, 02:25 PMChief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl 
Caudle testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee on the Navy’s 
fiscal 2027 budget request in Washington on May 19, 2026. (Senior Chief Mass 
Communication Specialist Elliott Fabrizio/U.S. Navy)
Navy officials told senators in Washington on Tuesday that reports about 
plumbing issues aboard the world’s largest aircraft carrier were embellished 
and not entirely true.

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle said that challenges with the USS 
Gerald R. Ford’s toilets were the result of misuse by sailors and the natural 
wear and tear of a historically long deployment.

“If that system is operated in accordance with procedure, then it does not 
clog,” Caudle said during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing regarding 
the Navy’s fiscal 2027 budget request.

Military Times reported in January that the Ford, which contains approximately 
650 toilets, experienced issues during its most recent deployment with its 
vacuum collection, holding and transfer system, which uses pressure to suck out 
and transport wastewater from the toilets.

A spokesperson from U.S. Fleet Forces Command confirmed the problem to Military 
Times at the time but said the plumbing failures had no bearing on the 
operational readiness of the ship and that most incidents were isolated events 
that didn’t affect the entire sewage system.

Repairs took between 30 minutes and two hours, the spokesperson said, and 
problems with the plumbing decreased as the nearly 11-month deployment 
continued.

In January, NPR published a report that said the Ford had called for assistance 
with the lackluster toilets 42 times since 2023, with 32 calls coming in 2025 
alone.

Caudle told senators that when a toilet did clog after a sailor flushed a 
t-shirt or a rag down the toilet, it only took a few hours for the toilet to be 
up and running again.

Navy officials did not clarify whether the disposal of fabric in the toilets 
was intentional or accidental, or what the circumstances around such instances 
were.

Fatigue from overuse was to be expected as well, the CNO said.

“Five thousand sailors a day flush the commode at least four times a day at 
least over a ten-month deployment,” Caudle said. “That’s six million flushes.”

It was less than a 1% problem, according to the CNO.

Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao called reports of toilet issues “fake news,” 
while the CNO said the plumbing system on Ford-class ships was a good design 
and that reports of clogged toilets were “highly exaggerated.”

A 2020 Government Accountability Office report found that the ship’s sewage 
pipes were too small to accommodate the flushes of the more than 4,000 crew 
members aboard.

Clogs have forced the Navy to spend $400,000 per flush on an acidic chemical 
that flushes out the pipes when necessary.

The USS Gerald R. Ford returned from a 326-day deployment Saturday, during 
which it recorded the longest post-Vietnam deployment. Upon their arrival, the 
Ford Carrier Strike Group received the Presidential Unit Citation, the highest 
unit-level military decoration for extraordinary acts of heroism during its 
support of Operation Epic Fury, among other achievements.

In addition to supporting combat operations for Operation Epic Fury, the vessel 
supported Operation Absolute Resolve, sailed over 57,713 nautical miles and 
endured a non-combat-related fire that sidelined the ship for over a wee

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Revised: 20250507

You are receiving The Mifnet because you requested to join this list.

The Mifnet is largely a labor of love, however the infrastructure isn't exactly 
cost-free. If you'd care to make a small contribution to the effort, please 
know that it would be greatly appreciated:
https://wardell.us/url/mifbit

All posts sent to the list should abide by these policies:

1) List members acknowledge that participation in Mifnet is a privilege--not a 
right.
2) Posts are always off the record, absent specific permission from the author.
3) The tone of discussions is collegial.
4) Posts are expected to be in reasonably good taste.
5) We discuss ideas and not personalities, and we don't speak ill of other 
Mifnet members.

* The Mifnet WEB SITE is:
  https://www.mifnet.com/

* To UNSUBSCRIBE from this list at any time please visit:
  https://lists.mifnet.com/
  OR: SEND THIS MESSAGE via email: [email protected]?subject=leave

* Send Mifnet mailing list POSTS/SUBMISSIONS to:
  [email protected]

* You may reach the person managing The Mifnet at:
  [email protected]

* Please consider the DIGEST version of The Mifnet, which consolidates all list 
traffic into 1-3
  messages daily. See instructions at:
  https://lists.mifnet.com/

* Manage your personal Mifnet SUBSCRIPTION at:
  https://lists.mifnet.com/

* For a list of all available Mifnet commands, SEND THIS MESSAGE via email:
  [email protected]?subject=help

* View The Mifnet LIST POLICIES and PRIVACY POLICY at:
  https://mifnet.com/index.php/policies

* View instructions for Mifnet DELIVERY PROBLEMS at:
  https://mifnet.com/index.php/delivery-problems

* View The Mifnet LIST ARCHIVE at:
  https://lists.mifnet.com/hyperkitty/list/[email protected]/

Reply via email to