Navy chief plans to ship out 50,000 sailors by 2009

Chief of Naval Operations Vern Clark said Tuesday he intends to cut the Navy by nearly 50,000 personnel over five years in a move toward more manpower-efficient weapons.

"I am actively pursuing a Navy with more capability with fewer sailors," Clark told a Defense Writers breakfast.

From the temporary high of nearly 400,000 active duty officers and enlisted men, Clark said he intended to cut the Navy's end strength to 375,900 by the end of next year and to 350,000 by the end of the current six-year defense plan.

Clark said he can save up to $1.5 billion a year for every 10,000 personnel he cuts and needs to use that money to buy the next generation of ships and aircraft. But Clark said he did not anticipate canceling any ongoing weapons programs like the Army did with the Comanche scout helicopter program.

Clark said he is retiring older ships -- such as Los Angeles-class attack submarines and Spruance-class destroyers -- and aircraft at an accelerated rate to cut operations and maintenance costs.