America Needs 250,000 New Shipbuilders to Build the Submarines It's Already Paid For -- and It Can't Find Them

The U.S. submarine shipbuilding workforce shortfall could reach roughly 250,000 workers over the next decade, according to the article, to build submarines already ordered by the Navy and funded by Congress. The core problem is not money or steel, the piece argues, but the availability of trained personnel such as welders, pipefitters, and nuclear-certified machinists, whose training takes years. It says the U.S. Navy faces production delays as it pursues multiple parallel programs, including Columbia-class ballistic missile submarines, continued Virginia-class attack submarine production, preparations for SSN(X), modernization of surface combatants, and upkeep of an aging fleet. The article describes a lost “human capital” base after the Cold War, when shipbuilding slowed and industrial workforces shrank, while China’s yards expand faster than American facilities. It frames the issue as an industrial crisis driven by skills rather than appropriations.