Mine Warfare Training Atrophied So Badly the US Sends Sailors to Belgium

The US Navy's mine warfare workforce training infrastructure has degraded to the point where the service produces only one to two Mine Warfare Weapons Tactics Instructors (MIW WTIs) per year, representing approximately five percent of the overall Navy WTI population. The most capable mine warfare training available to American sailors now takes place at the Belgian Naval Academy, not at any US facility. The United States, with a defense budget exceeding $800 billion, is borrowing mine clearance expertise from a country with a defense budget under $7 billion. This matters because mine warfare is a skill-intensive discipline where experience and institutional knowledge cannot be rebuilt overnight. Detecting a mine buried in seafloor sediment, distinguishing it from thousands of mine-like objects on sonar, and safely neutralizing it without detonation requires years of training and practice. When the Strait of Hormuz crisis escalated in March 2026 and Iran began laying mines, the US had to rely on allies for capabilities it once possessed. Eighteen years of counter-IED missions in Iraq and Afghanistan pulled Navy EOD technicians away from underwater mine disposal, creating a generation of operators who never trained for the maritime mission. The structural cause is the 2006 dissolution of Mine Warfare Command, which eliminated the institutional champion for MCM training, doctrine, and career development. Without a dedicated flag-level command, mine warfare lost its voice in budget battles and officer promotion boards. No admiral's career is made in mine warfare, so the community cannot attract or retain top talent, and the training pipeline withers from neglect rather than any deliberate decision to abandon it.