Redacted watchdog report spotlights Navy staffing strains impacting undersea surveillance

Navy divers and special operators perform operations with the Ohio-Class nuclear-powered guided-missile submarine USS Florida.(U.S. Navy photo)

By Brandi Vincent • Jul 28, 2026

The Pentagon’s Office of Inspector General urged the U.S. Navy to establish a more permanent workforce with specialized skillsets to meet serious current and emerging demands associated with a vital underwater network that combines seabed technologies with data-processing assets to monitor and classify submarines.

According to a heavily redacted IG report, which was distributed internally in January and recently obtained by DefenseScoop through the Freedom of Information Act process, a fragile talent pipeline and unstable staffing for the Integrated Undersea Surveillance System (IUSS) has proven to be a perpetual challenge for the service.

“The IUSS does not have a sustainable workforce with sufficient expertise to effectively accomplish existing and future mission requirements,” officials wrote in the watchdog review. “The decline in IUSS enlisted acoustic analysts’ skills is attributed to the Navy not prioritizing repeat IUSS tours.”