The Navy is seeking ways to operate its ships more cost-effectively. One approach might be to alter the employment schedules of Navy surface vessels to get the greatest benefit in terms of operating efficiency and crew effectiveness. The Navy is currently transitioning from a 32-month to a 36-month cycle, but adopting a 72-month operational cycle could increase the time surface vessels are deployed, allow for multiple deployments between depot availabilities, reduce the number of basic training periods, and achieve some cost savings by removing the crews during the depot maintenance period.
Roland J. Yardley,Daniel Tremblay,Brian Perkinson,et al. Extending Depot Length and Intervals for DDG-51-Class Ships: Examining the 72-Month Operational Cycle. 2016-01-01.