I listened in on the blogger conference call today and was glad to hear Hugh Hewitt ask about a statement that had been made about an upcoming announcement from John McCain that there will be ‘a significant increase in the Army and Marine Corps’ under his administration. I was so happy to hear that he would build our military back up that I didn’t make the connection that he didn’t mention the Navy. I guess I just made the assumption he meant the military as a whole.

Hugh Hewitt, on the other hand, did make that connection and asked what McCain’s intentions are in terms of the Navy’s involvement in that military increase. I thought the response to that question was interesting.

In the blogger conference call today, McCain Senior Advisor Steve Schmidt outlined next week’s “Service to America” tour. Senator McCain will be making speeches from McCain Field in Mississippi, Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia, Annapolis, Maryland, Jacksonville and Pensacola, Florida. Each stop will underscore some aspect of the senator’s life story, as well as the McCain family’s many-generation commitment to the country’s safety.

At the Jacksonville stop, the GOP nominee will call for a significant increase in the size of the Army and Marine Corps. I asked if the Navy would be part of the call for an expanded military, and Schmidt demurred until the senator speaks next week. It seems to me that a naval power needs more than the 280 ship Navy we are headed for.

Expansion of the military is a crucial issue for the fall campaign. The Jacksonville speech will thus be a very significant milestone in Campaign 2008.

I will look forward to hearing McCain speak on this next week. With his legacy of connections with the Navy I suspect there will be a significant increase in the strength of our military … Navy included. I certainly hope so.