BROCK VERGAKIS
Associated Press

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — The Navy’s top admiral says lengthy eight-month deployments are no longer sustainable.

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert says the Navy wants seven-month deployments to be the standard. In recent years, eight and nine-month deployments have become commonplace.

Greenert made the comments during an all-hands call aboard the USS Kearsarge at Naval Station Norfolk. The amphibious assault ship returned from an eight-month deployment in November.

Greenert says the lengthy deployments became necessary due to operational needs and because of automatic spending cuts known as sequestration.

He says the spending cuts resulted in delayed maintenance on ships.

Greenert told sailors it was regrettable they had to deploy for so long and that their next deployment beginning in the fall of 2015 should be shorter.

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